Mo 


xce 


Si 


Success  in  tV»e 
CnrisKan   Mmist^* 


•jf 


^^^mjg^ 

BV  660 

.M7 

Moxcey, 

Mary  Eliza,  1875- 

Some  qualities  associated 

with  success  in  the 

Some  Qualities  Associated  with  Success 
in  the  Christian  Ministry 


By 

MARY  E.  MOXCEY,  Ph.D. 


Teachers  College,  Columbia  University 
Contributions  to  Education,  No.  122 


Published  by 

JE'tat'^ttsi  College,  Columbia  ^nibersfitp 

New  York  City 
1922 


^.•AN  22  1941 


^XSycTpSZS^ 


>  JAN  22  1941    ' 


Sa 


Some  Oualities  Associated  with  Succe 
in  the  Christian  Ministry 


GlCAi  Sai^V 


By 


MARY  E.  MOXCEY,  Ph.D. 


Teachers  College,  Columbia  University 
Contributions  to  Education,  No.  122 


Published  by 

VI^tatf)txi  College,  Columiiia  ^nibersittp 

New  York  City 
1922 


Copyright,  1922,  by  Mary  E.  Moxcey 


PREFACE 

This  study  was  undertaken  as  the  completion  of  graduate  work 
in  rehgious  education  and  psychology  carried  on  in  1913-15  in  the 
Department  of  Educational  Psychology,  Teachers  College,  the 
Department  of  Psychology,  Columbia  University,  and  the  Depart- 
ment of  Religious  Education,  Union  Theological  Seminary.  The 
data,  collected  during  the  year  1916-17,  represent  the  cooperation 
of  a  large  number  of  people  to  whom  the  writer's  thanks  are  most 
gratefully  rendered.  First  of  all  were  hundreds  of  graduates  of  the 
theological  schools  who  took  time  from  busy  pastoral  or  executive 
or  professorial  work  to  give  painstaking  answers  to  the  question- 
naires. The  ofificers  and  the  ofifice  staffs  of  Boston  University  School 
of  Theology,  Drew  Theological  Seminary,  and  Garrett  Biblical 
Institute  showed  warm  interest  in  the  project  and  afforded  every 
courtesy  of  access  to  their  records  of  scholarship  grades  and  every 
facility  for  copying  them.  The  librarians  of  Union  Theological 
Seminary  and  the  Methodist  Book  Concern  were  most  helpful  in 
making  available  the  theological  journals  and  the  minutes,  cata- 
logues, and  other  printed  material  on  which  portions  of  the  work  are 
based.  Especially  helpful  also  were  those  members  of  the  New 
York  and  New  York  East  conferences  who  gave  their  judgments 
on  the  ability  in  four  ministerial  traits  of  their  conference  associates. 

That  this  work  was  finally  completed  is  in  large  measure  due  to 
the  stimulating  faith  in  its  value  of  Professor  George  A.  Coe,  under 
whom  the  major  courses  of  graduate  study  had  been  carried  on. 
The  problem  of  this  dissertation  was  formulated  and  its  solution 
worked  out  under  the  inspiration  and  direction  of  Professor  E.  L. 
Thorndike.  To  him  the  author  is  heartily  grateful  for  unstinted 
generosity  of  interest  and  of  statistical  laboratory  facilities,  but 
more  than  all  for  training  in  the  spirit  and  the  method  of  independ- 
ent research. 

M.  E.  M. 


CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTORY 

Page 

The  Problem  of  Vocational  Guidance  in  the  Professions i 

Distinguishing  Characteristics  of  the  Ministry  as  a  Profession I 

A .  As  Given  by  Various  Writers 2 

B.  As  Stated  by  an  Average  Church  Member 4 

C.  Chosen  and  Defined  for  Purposes  of  This  Study 5 

Statement  of  General  Method  of  Procedure 6 


I 

A  STUDY  OF  MEMBERS  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  AND  NEW  YORK  EAST 
CONFERENCES 

1.  Judgments  OF  Fellow-Ministers  ON  4  Distinctive  Traits      ....  7 

Method  of  Procedure  in  Obtaining  Numerical  Judgments 7 

Method  of  Testing  Reliability  of  Judgments  as  Measures      8 

Table  I.    Reliability  of  Judgments  of  Associates 10 

Conclusions  from  Table  i 10 

Table  2.    Intercorrelation  of  Traits 12 

Correction  for  Attenuation  (and  Note  i,  Raw-Correlations)  ....  12 

Conclusions  from  Table  2 12 

2.  A  Study  of  the  Relation  of  Salary  to  Ability 14 

Sources,  Selection,  and  Treatment  of  Data 14 

(Note  2.    Raw-  and  Self-Correlations) 15 

Table  3.    Relation  of  Salary  and  Date  of  Entrance  to  Each  of  4 

Ministerial  Abilities 16 

Conclusions  from  Table  3 16 

Table  4.    Relation  of  Salary  to  Ability  (after  Correction  to  Remove 

Effect  of  Time  Element) 17 

3.  A  Study  of  Conference  Statistical  Records 18 

Scope  and  Limitations  of  Figures  in  the  Annual  Minutes 18 

Method  of  Procedure      20 

A.  Choice  of  Data,  with  Reasons 20 

B.  Preliminary  Testing  of  Records,  25  Pastors  for  15  Years    .    .  21 

C.  Testing  the  Reliability  of  the  Numbers  as  Measures      ....  21 

Fig.  I.    Form  for  15  Years'  Fiscal  Record 22 

Fig.  2.    Form  for  15  Years'  Pastoral  Record 23 

Table  5.    Reliability  of  Increase  or  Decrease 

Measures  (by  Plus  and  Minus  Signs) 24 

Fig.  J.    Sample  of  Procedure,  Increase  and  Decrease  Percentages  26 


Table  6.    Numerical  and  Percentage  Increase  or  Decrease   .    .    . 

Part  I.    In  Church  Membership 27 

Discussion  of  Results  and  Problems 27 

Part  2.    In  Sunday  School  Membership      30 

Discussion  of  Results  and  Problems 29 

Part  3.    In  Contributions  to  Mission  Boards      31 

Discussion  of  Results  and  Problems 31 

Fig.  4.    Typical  Budget,  15  years  of  City  Church 33 

Part  4.    In  Contributions  to  Other  Benevolences      34 

Discussion  of  Results  and  Problems 33 

Summary  of  Table  6  compared  with  Table  5       35 

A  Study   of  the   Relation  of  Adjudged  Ability  to   Recorded 

Achievement 35 

Method  of  Procedure      35 

(Note  3.    Steps  of  Computations  for  Table  7.) 36 

Table  7.  Correlation  of  Abilities  with  Achievements.  20  Conference 

Men  for  15  Years 37 

Conclusions  and  Discussion 37 


II 

A  STUDY  OF  GRADUATES  FROM  THREE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL 
THEOLOGICAL  SCHOOLS 

1.  Introduction      40 

Direction  of  the  Inquiry  and  Source  of  Material 40 

Extent  of  Material  and  Sample  Questionnaire 40 

Scope  and  Limitations 41 

Premises  and  Working  Basis:    Criticisms  and  Defence  of  Salary  and 

Prominence  as  Criteria 42 

Personal  and  Environmental  Factors  Measured      43 

Selection  of  Items  and  Method  of  Procedure 44 

Training  Factors  Measured 45 

2.  A  Study  OF  THE  Official  Records  OF  Graduates  OF  1902-191 1    ...  45 

Boston  University  School  of  Theology 

Drew  Theological  Seminary 

Garrett  Biblical  Institute 

Summary  of  Data  Obtained       55 

Table  8.    Numerical  Summary  of  Questionnaires  Sent  and  Replies 

Received 46 

Table  g.    Occupations  of  Theological  School  Graduates,  Status  of 

1917 47 

Grades  in  Theological  Schools 48 

I.    Boston  University  School  of  Theology 48 

Table  10.    Distribution  of  Individual  Medians  (Boston)       ...  49 

Fig.  5.    Distribution  of  Individual  Medians  (Boston) 50 


2.  Drew  Theological  Seminary 5^ 

Fig.  6.    Samples  of  Individual  Records  (Drew)      51 

Table  11.    Distribution  of  Individual  Medians  (Drew)     ....  52 

Fig.  7.    Distribution  of  Individual  Medians  (Drew) 53 

3.  Garrett  Biblical  Institute 53 

Table  12.    Distribution  of  Individual  Medians  (Garrett)      ...  54 

Fig.  8.    Distribution  of  Individual  Medians  (Garrett)      ....  55 

Professional  and  Geographical  Distribution  of  Graduates 55 

1.  Grades  of  Educational  Men 56 

Table  13.    Boston  Graduates  in  Educational  Work 57 

Table  14.    Drew  Seminary  Graduates  in  Educational  Work    .    .  58 
Table  15.   Garrett  Biblical  Institute  Graduates  in  Educational 

Work 59 

Table  16.   Summary  of  Graduates  in  Academic  Positions    ...  59 

Fig.  9.   Summary  of  Grades  of  Educators 60 

2.  Grades  of  Executives 61 

Table  17.    Boston  Graduates  in  Executive  Work 61 

Table  18.    Drew  Graduates  in  Executive  Work 61 

Table  ig.    Garrett  Graduates  in  Executive  Work      62 

Fig.  10.    Summary  of  Grades  of  Executives 62 

3.  Grades  of  Missionaries      63 

Table  20.    Boston  Graduates  in  Foreign  Service 63 

Table  21.    Drew  Graduates  in  Foreign  Service 64 

Table  22.    Garrett  Graduates  in  Foreign  Service 65 

Deductions  from  Data  of  Occupations  other  than  Pastorate       ...  65 

Fig.  II.    Summary  of  Grades  of  Missionaries 65 

Grades  of  Seminary  Men  and  Ability  in  Four  Traits 66 

Relation  of  Seminary  Grades  to  Abilities   (39  Drew   Graduates  in 

Conference   List) 67 

Relation  of  Theological  School  Grades  to  Occupation  and  Income  67 

Table  23.    All  Seminary  Grades,  Highest  and  Lowest  One-Fifth  68 
Table  24.    Salaries  of  Graduates  Receiving  Highest  and  Lowest 

Grades 69 

Fig.  12.    Distribution  of  Salaries  Received  by  Highest  and  Low- 
est Fifths  in  Scholarships 7^ 

Analysis  of  Data  Obtained  from  Questionnaires 72 

Table  25.    Physical  Data  from  Ministers  Sending  Reply   ....      72 

Personal  and  Social  Description 73 

Table  26.    A.    Boyhood  Environment      73 

Table  26.    B.    Economic  Environment 73 

Table  26.    C.    Combination  of  Community  and  Economic  Factors     73 

Table  27.    Early  Opportunities  Specified 75 

Table  28.    Early  Responsibilities  Specified      76 

Individual  Interests  and  Abilities 79 

Table  29.    Early  Interests 80 

Table  30.    Early  Abilities 80 

Table  31.    Adolescent  Interests 80 

Table  32.   Adolescent  Abilities      81 


Table  jj.    Present  Interests 8i 

rc6/ej4.    Present  Abilities 8l 

Dominating  Interests      82 

Permanence  of  Interests 82 

Permanence  and  Degrees  of  Ability 83 

General  Conclusions 83 


III 

A  STUDY  OF  ESTIMATED  VALUES  OF  CURRICULUM  SUBJECTS  IN 
COLLEGE  AND  THEOLOGICAL  TRAINING 

Introduction 85 

1.  Source  and  Extent  of  Data      86 

2.  Analysis  of  Total  Ratings  of  Curricula 88 

Table  j^.    Estimated  Value  of  College  Subjects 90 

Table  36.    Estimated  Value  of  Theological  Subjects 92 

3.  Analysis  of  Comparative  Ratings  by  Special  Groups 94 

Table  37.    Comparison  of  Median  Ratings,  College 96 

Table  j8.    Comparison  of  Median  Ratings,  Theological 98 

4.  Summary  and  Conclusions 99 


INTRODUCTORY 

In  our  complex  modern  life,  one  of  the  most  vital  problems  af- 
fecting community  and  personal  efficiency,  comfort  and  happiness, 
is  that  of  fitting  the  individual  to  his  task.  To  increase  the  number 
of  "successes"  and  decrease  the  number  of  "failures"  of  individuals  in 
their  work  is  the  problem  of  vocational  guidance.  Its  solution  in- 
volves analyzing  the  work  to  be  done  to  determine  the  requirements 
of  its  ^'arious  operations,  and  analyzing  the  individual  to  find  the 
performances  of  which  he  is  most  capable. 

In  the  fields  of  artisanship  and  manual  employment  this  analysis 
of  muscular  and  sensory  requirements  proceeds  apace.  In  the  pro- 
fessions but  little  accurate  measurement  has  yet  been  attempted. 
Professor  Seashore  has  thus  analyzed  the  psychology  of  musicians, 
but  this  is  a  profession  involving  powers  which  are  very  possibly 
unit  characters  and  are  certainly  to  the  average  observer  obviously 
specialized.  Most  professions  evidently  have  many  requirements, 
and  a  number  of  these  are  apparently  common  to  two  or  more  pro- 
fessions. Is  "success"  in  a  profession  a  matter  of  the  preponderance 
of  one  ability,  or  of  the  fortunate  combination  of  abilities? 

Gowin  {The  Executive  and  His  Control  of  Men)  has  shown  certain 
physical  and  mental  traits  to  be  associated  with  different  degrees  of 
success  in  executive  positions.  His  is  avowedly  a  study  of  traits 
common  to  success  in  many  different  professions.  Hollingworth's 
Vocational  Psychology  records  pioneer  attempts  to  measure  per- 
sonal traits  which  make  up  the  differences  in  adaptability  to  situ- 
ations and  requirements  of  different  professions. 

An  inquiry  into  factors  of  success  in  any  profession  must  first 
choose  some  elements  of  that  profession  that  are  pertinent  and 
distinctive.  One  profession  is  distinguished  from  another  by  (i)  its 
purposes,  (2)  its  activities,  and  (3)  the  specialized  training  required 
for  carrying  on  those  activities  in  pursuance  of  its  purposes.  How  is 
the  Christian  ministry  thus  distinguished?  What  have  the  leaders 
in  the  ministry,  and  its  professional  journals,  to  say  about  its  ideals 
and  its  standards  and  tests  of  success? 

It  is  perhaps  to  be  expected  that  a  profession  so  long  established, 
and  with  such  great  historic  traditions,  should  have  less  to  say  in 


2  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

defining  its  special  functions  than  new,  self-conscious  professions 
like  those  of  the  social  worker  and  the  religious  educator.  A  study  of 
the  library  Index  to  Periodical  Literature  for  the  past  twenty  or 
twenty-five  years  shows  that  many  articles  have  been  published 
dealing  with  the  adaptation  of  the  theological  school  to  altered  forms 
of  activity  and  altered  methods  of  accomplishing  its  purposes,  but 
the  purposes  and  activities  themselves  are  largely  taken  for  granted. 

In  an  editorial  on  the  death  of  Dr.  John  Hall,  The  Methodist 
Review  for  November,  1898,  discusses  "The  Tests  of  a  Successful 
Ministry."  Here  the  purpose  of  the  Christian  ministry  is  defined, 
"to  save  men  and  to  build  them  up  in  the  faith."  Hence  the  "primary 
tests  are  the  number  of  souls  saved  and  the  influence  of  the  preacher's 
life  and  words,"  while  "secondary  tests,  which  are  consequences  of 
the  above"  are  the  "advancement  of  education,  economic  betterment 
and  improvement  of  social  life"  in  the  community,  and  the  minister's 
direct  "influence  on  public  afl^airs."  The  means,  which  are  subordi- 
nate, are  chiefly  preaching  and  pastoral  labor.  Preaching  is  to  be 
judged  by  its  "truth  and  sincerity,  its  scholarly  preparation  and 
literary  form."  "It  must  accomplish  its  results  by  such  means  as 
approve  themselves  to  the  most  thoughtful  people  as  well  as  to  the 
most  pious." 

Under  the  heading  "The  Significance  of  the  Personal  Equation  in 
the  Ministry"  {The  Biblical  World  for  August,  1916),  Orlo  J.  Price 
describes  the  "rapid  difi^erentiation  of  function"  within  the  ministry 
due  to  the  widening  sphere  of  the  church  in  recent  years.  He  urges 
the  church  to  train  specialists  rather  than  general  practitioners 
and  suggests  that  the  tasks  of  the  "prophet,  engineer,  educator"  or 
the  "preacher,  teacher,  business  controller,  music  leader,  community 
pastor  and  social  worker"  are  each  sufficient  to  demand  the  full  time 
of  one  individual.  He  says  that  one  person  attempting  all  of  these 
"lives  below  the  line  of  personal  efficiency  for  lack  of  salary."  In 
another  article,  "The  Theological  Seminary  and  the  Needs  of  the 
Modern  Church"  {Religious  Education,  October,  1916),  Dr.  Price 
sums  up  the  church's  needs  as  to  leadership  as  preaching,  instruction, 
organization  for  effective  service,  and  pastoral  work. 

Bishop  Hamilton  Baynes,  in  the  Hibbert  Journal  (16:  103) 
declares  the  work  of  the  clergy  to  be  "to  lead  the  church  into  the  land 
not  yet  occupied  by  common  conscience,  where  mammon-worship 
and  worldliness  and  selfish  competition  and  chaos  prevail."  In  the 
succeeding   issue   of  the  Hibbert  Journal   (16:  310)    the   Reverend 


Introduction  3 

Joseph  Wood  says  that  "Preaching  is  the  specialty  of  our  vocation. 
It  is  the  sermon  that  chiefly  bears  the  brunt  of  the  world's  criticism 
of  the  church."  He  emphasizes  the  need  to  "study  the  listener's  mind 
and  needs  rather  than  our  own  interests  as  subjects  for  sermons." 

Dr.  Francis  J.  Hall,  of  the  General  Theological  Seminary  of 
New  York,  emphasizes  (in  the  Constructive  Quarterly,  4:  748)  the 
same  idea,  that  the  preaching  function  of  the  ministry  is  paramount. 
He  recognizes  the  obligation  to  continue  to  seek  truth  till  it  is  found 
and  to  keep  "an  open  mind  to  re-open  even  settled  questions."  "But 
the  assurance  that  one  has  found  the  truth  in  a  given  direction 
carries  with  it  the  right  to  teach  it  as  undoubtedly  true";  and  this 
method  of  teaching  is  "a  normal  condition  of  its  success.  It  is  the 
readiness  of  normal  folk  to  accept  teaching  confidently  given  that 
largely  explains  the  spread  of  enlightenment  among  men  in  general." 
Apropos  of  this  last  statement  may  be  quoted  from  Gowin  {The 
Executive  and  His  Control  of  Men,  p.  45),  "It  may  be  pointed  out 
that  because  in  these  times  of  reconstruction  ministers  as  a  class  are 
too  often  without  the  clear  and  positive  idea,  hypocrisy  stalks 
abroad  in  many  a  declining  church.  .  .  .  What  our  social  life  most 
needs  is  a  more  clearly  defined  set  of  values  with  which,  forward 
facing  and  positive,  men  and  women  can  transact  life's  business 
with  vigor." 

In  a  recent  article  in  the  American  Journal  of  Theology  (16:  161) 
"The  Contribution  of  Critical  Scholarship  to  Ministerial  Efificiency," 
Dr.  George  Burman  Foster  challenges  the  standards  and  tests  that 
seem  to  be  taken  for  granted.  "The  dream  is  of  a  scientific  ministry 
instead  of  the  old  religious  ministry.  .  .  .  The  church  is  not  a 
temple  but  a  'plant.' "  The  watchword  of  "efificiency,"  then,  "in  a  way 
that  appeals  to  a  superficial  populace  with  quantitative  standards, 
emphasizes  results  rather  than  ideals,  vigor  rather  than  cultivation, 
temporary  success  rather  than  wholeness  of  life,  the  greatness  of  him 
that  'taketh  a  city'  rather  than  of  him  'who  ruleth  his  spirit."  In- 
stead of  a  "reliance  on  technique,  machinery  and  capital"  taking  the 
place  of  divine  power  and  inspiration,  Dr.  Foster  would  test  the 
minister's  success  by  his  sincerity  and  his  sobriety  of  judgment  in 
our  age  of  doubt;  because  the  formation  of  personality  "is  at  once 
the  primary  need  of  man   and   the  main   concern  of  education." 

In  more  popular  vein  is  an  article  entitled  "Success  in  the  Ministry" 
which  appeared  in  the  Independent  for  September  2,  1907.  The 
editors  had  asked  a  minister  whom  they  considered  conspicuously 


4  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

successful  to  write  it.  He  had  finished  college  and  theological  school 
and  was  ordained  at  the  age  of  twenty-four.  At  thirty-five  he  was 
pastor  of  a  city  church  of  i,ooo  members  conspicuous  for  wealth, 
culture  and  refinement,  who  gave  him  a  salary  of  $5,000,  and  he 
received  $2,000  more  a  year  for  lectures  and  articles  and  in  fees  and 
gifts.  This  minister  says  that  any  man  who  succeeds  in  the  ministry 
could  succeed  out  of  it,  and  quotes  Phillips  Brooks:  "No  man  ever 
ought  to  preach  if  he  can  help  it."  (This  writer  could  not  help  it.) 
He  gives  six  reasons  for  his  "lack  of  failure": 

(i)  A  legacy  from  his  father  of  capacity  for  industry.  The  one 
reason  above  all  others  for  failure  is  lack  of  this  requisite — "a  loath- 
some thing,  for  it  is  laziness.  Search  here  before  you  look  elsewhere 
for  failure." 

(2)  From  his  mother  a  legacy  of  gentleness.  It  is  the  one  thing 
needed  to  be  a  gentleman.  "After  I  went  to  New  York  it  took  me 
six  weeks  to  learn  to  wear  my  clothes  and  six  more  to  learn  a  language 
of  which  the  vocabulary  is  but  small.  .  .  ."  "One  must  scorn  to  the 
death  all  counterfeit  and  sham.  Doing  this  one  will  be  happy  and 
also  one  will  be  of  use." 

(3)  From  a  varied  and  hard  experience  in  business,  a  drill  in 
doing  "the  one  hard  thing  that  belongs  to  that  job"  —  to  "give 
it  the  best  energy  and  not  make  a  substitute  for  it  of  trifling  details." 

(4)  From  varied  mingling  with  men,  a  persuasion  of  their  earnest- 
ness and  intelligence  which  made  his  task  "not  to  keep  from  preach- 
ing over  their  heads  but  to  keep  from  preaching  under  their  feet." 

(5)  An  inborn  drop  of  melancholy  and 

(6)  An  inborn  sense  of  humor.  "The  combination  is  a  blessed 
one"  for  "to  dare  to  stand  between  God  and  men,  one  must  be  either 
impertinent  or  inspired"  and  the  melancholy  gives  a  sense  of  the 
seriousness  of  life  and  its  situations.  The  sense  of  humor  moreover  is 
a  combination  of  discrimination,  finesse,  caution  and  toleration. 
In  both  business  and  personal  relations,  one  must  know  the  relative 
importance  of  matters;  "if  his  instinct  does  not  prompt  him,  he  will 
never  learn,  and  if  he  does  not  learn  he  will  die  young." 

Turning  from  these  standards  and  tests  suggested  by  prominent 
members  of  the  profession,  the  investigator  endeavored  to  find  out 
what  in  the  mind  of  the  ordinary  member  of  the  congregation  con- 
stituted a  successful  minister.  This  was  best  expressed  by  a  woman 
who  was  a  faithful  and  intelligent  worker  in  a  large  church  in  a 
medium  sized  city,  who  spoke  not  only  for  herself  but  for  others  by 


Introduction  5 

summing  up  the  comments  of  church  officers,  the  young  people,  and 
the  women's  organizations. 

He  must  have  (i)  executive  ability,  "which  includes  complete 
planning,  reliable  execution  and  working  through  others."  (2)  A 
social  attitude  of  personal  interest  shown  by  being  cordial  to  all,  by 
individualizing  this  interest,  and  by  visiting  among  the  people 
(among  the  parishioners  this  was  the  activity  most  heard  about). 
(3)  His  pulpit  equipment  should  include  "a  logical,  rememberable 
structure,"  earnestness  and  force  in  delivery,  facility  in  words, 
story-telling  ability,  and  a  well  modulated  voice — "not  dropping 
his  voice  so  the  most  important  things  are  lost."  (4)  Sermon 
content  is  judged  by  the  evident  thoroughness  of  his  biblical  knowl- 
edge, the  emotional  warmth  of  conviction  (especially  of  the  reality 
of  God),  the  sincerity  of  his  own  character  and  the  experience 
back  of  his  ideas  ("Practicing  what  he  preaches")  and  the  practicality 
of  the  sermon  application  which  should  be  encouraging  and  "not 
scolding  or  dictatorial."  (5)  He  is  expected  to  take  leadership  in 
activity,  promoting  good  fellowship  among  the  members  ("a  good 
mixer"),  "appreciating  the  work  done  by  the  church  members,"  and 
initiating  "sufficient  Christian  activity  to  fill  the  lives  of  his  people." 
(6)  As  to  personal  characteristics,  good  looks  ("this  matters  only 
at  first"),  good  manners  and  courtesy,  good  cheer  and  optimism  are 
desired — and  good  clothes!  ("We  like  our  minister  well  dressed,  that 
is,  his  clothes  suitable  to  the  occasion,  well  kept  and  neat.") 

The  available  material  is  patently  fragmentary,  vague,  and 
unformulated.  Yet  from  the  reading  of  the  many  articles  of  which 
the  above  quotations  are  only  the  most  telling,  and  from  many 
conversations  with  interested  leaders  in  the  profession,  there  seemed 
to  be  certain  real  standards  which  may  be  thus  formulated: 

(i)  By  common  consent  the  purpose  of  the  Christian  ministry 
includes  at  least  the  effort  to  formulate  and  maintain  ideals  of 
conduct  and  belief,  and  the  effort  to  organize  social  groups  and 
institutions  which  will  enable  men  and  women  to  practice  these  ideals 
in  daily  life. 

(2)    The  activities  of  the  Christian  ministry  include  notably: 

(a)  The  public  presentation  of  these  ideals  in  sermons. 

(b)  Visiting  individuals  and  families  of  the  church  community  to 
develop  their  allegiance  to  the  ideals,  and  their  activity  in  the  special 
conduct  of  the  Christian  faith;  these  varied  duties  being  familiarly 
summed  up  in  the  term  pastoral  care. 


6  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

(c)  The  raising  of  money  for  various  benevolent  and  missionary 
enterprises,  its  expenditure,  and  the  stimulation  and  direction  of  the 
voluntary  services  of  the  church  community  in  the  accomplishinent 
of  cooperative  enterprises.    These  duties  require  executive  ability. 

(d)  All  those  means  of  arousing  the  interest  of  the  indifTerent  and 
careless,  overcoming  the  opposition  of  the  antagonistic,  and  other- 
wise transforming  the  unlike-minded  into  members  of  the  like- 
minded  Christian  group,  which  are  comprehensively  known  as 
evangelism. 

(3)  While  the  relative  proportion  of  those  having  their  ministerial 
training  in  academic  and  professional  schools  to  those  who  secure  it 
empirically  in  the  work  of  the  pastorate  itself  varies  in  different 
denominations,  there  is  nevertheless  a  widely  accepted  standard  of 
desirable  preparation,  namely,  graduation  from  college  and  from  a 
theological  school. 

It  seemed,  then,  that  inquiry  regarding  the  problems  suggested 
by  the  subject  under  consideration  might  profitably  be  conducted 
from  two  distinct  angles: 

(i)  The  study  of  the  achievements  of  a  body  of  men  engaged  in 
the  actual  work  of  the  Christian  ministry;  of  the  relation  of  their 
individual  differences  in  the  four  factors  named  above;  and  of  the 
relation  of  the  amount  of  their  professional  training  to  those  achieve- 
ments ; 

(2)  A  study  of  the  characteristics  of  a  body  of  men  taking 
professional  training  for  the  work  of  the  Christian  ministry,  as  re- 
vealed by  their  natural  interests  and  abilities,  by  their  judgments 
on  the  training  received,  and  by  their  instructors'  rating  of  their 
capacity  to  receive  that  training.  For  these  studies,  the  ministry  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  chosen  because  more  complete, 
intimate,  and  detailed  information  is  available  in  print  than  for  any 
other  body  of  ministers. 


PART  I 

A  STUDY  OF  MEMBERS  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  AND  NEW 
YORK  EAST  CONFERENCES 

These  two  conferences  together  include  in  their  bounds  the  whole 
of  greater  New  York,  and  the  type  of  parishes  ranges  from  the  larg- 
est metropolitan  churches,  through  suburban,  residence  districts 
and  small  industrial  towns,  to  rural  circuits.  From  the  printed 
Annual  Minutes  of  these  conferences,  and  from  ministers  in  their 
membership,  has  been  gathered  the  material  for  the  first  part  of 
this  study. 

I.   Judgments  of  Fellow-Ministers 

The  list  of  ministers  receiving  appointments  at  the  April,  1916, 
sessions  of  these  two  conferences  was  the  starting  point  of  this  in- 
quiry. The  entire  487  names  were  arranged  alphabetically  with 
four  blank  spaces  following  each  name,  in  columns  numbered  to 
correspond  with  the  traits  described  on  the  instruction  sheets. 
From  the  names  on  this  list  were  chosen  certain  men  on  the  basis 
of  their  opportunity  for  wide  acquaintance  with  the  work  and 
personality  of  their  brother  ministers,  such  as  active  and  former 
district  superintendents,  executive  officers  of  denominational 
organizations,  pastors  long  connected  with  the  conference,  prominent 
conference  committee  workers.  To  fifty-one  such  men  were  sent 
each  a  mimeographed  copy  of  the  alphabetical  lists,  a  personal 
letter  of  request  and  explanation,  and  a  copy  of  the  direction  sheet 
herewith  reproduced. 

In  the  appended  list  are  the  names  of  all  the  active  ministers  in  the  New  York 
and  New  York  East  Conferences. 

There  are  four  columns  following  the  names,  numbered  to  correspond  to  the 
following  traits: 

1.  By  Sermon  Ability  is  meant  the  general  sum  of  the  vitality  and  value  of 
the  matter  preached  about,  its  style  and  structure,  and  the  eloquence  and  force  of 
its  delivery,  including  voice  modulation  and  pulpit  manner. 

2.  By  Pastoral  Ability  is  meant  the  work  of  visiting,  befriending,  comfort- 
ing, "bracing  up"  and  inspiring  individuals  and  families,  of  the  church  constitu- 
ency and  strangers;  and  stimulating,  promoting  and  organizing  good  fellowship, 
cooperativeness,  and  spiritual  activity  in  the  church  constituency. 


8  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

3.  By  Executive  Ability  is  meant  ability  to  see  what  details  are  necessary  to 
make  a  project  successful,  to  adapt  them  to  changing  conditions,  to  see  that  they 
are  carried  out,  and  to  work  through  others. 

4.  By  Evangelistic  Ability  is  meant  the  power  to  induce  individuals  who 
have  been  indifferent  or  hostile,  to  adopt  Christian  faith  and  conduct,  habits  and 
ideals. 

You  are  asked  to  grade  each  man  whom  you  know,  or  know  about,  well  enough 
to  have  any  opinion  about,    in  each  of   these  traits,   using  the  numbers    i   to 

5- 

Let  3  stand  for  the  average  of  good  ability  in  the  given  trait  (i.  e.,  perhaps  half 
the  marks  will  be  3).  2  will  mean  a  very  high  order  of  ability,  and  i  an  exceptional 
ability.  For  a  grade  of  ability  less  than  the  average  in  that  trait,  use  4;  and  for  a 
trait  in  which  a  man  has  poor  ability,  use  5. 

Do  not  let  your  mark  in  one  column  influence  your  judgment  of  the  same  man 
in  another  column.  Judge  each  man  in  each  trait  by  itself.  Work  as  rapidly  as 
you  can  without  feeling  hurried;  it  is  your  "snap  judgment"  that  is  wanted. 

Of  course  all  papers  are  strictly  confidential. 

The  rather  brief  time-limit  set  considerably  reduced  the  number 
of  replies,  as  belated  and  apologetic  letters  proved.  The  attitude  was 
in  general  one  of  cordial  and  interested  cooperation.  Some  felt 
that  the  task  would  require  an  unworthy  attitude  of  criticism,  an 
impossible  "sitting  in  judgment  on  their  brethren,"  and  others  felt 
that  their  own  work  precluded  the  possibility  of  having  first-hand 
knowledge  of  others'  preaching.  Several,  however,  testified  that 
they  found  the  classification  of  traits,  and  the  division  of  degrees, 
quite  natural  and  easy  to  follow.  Those  who  were  interviewed 
personally  were  observed  to  score  the  judgments  with  ease  and 
rapidity.  In  all,  sets  of  usable  returns  were  received  from  28  judges, 
who  had  classified  into  the  five  places  of  the  scale  the  four  '  traits 
of  from  24  to  382  of  their  fellow  ministers  whom  they  "knew  well 
enough  to  have  an  opinion  about."  Four  hundred  and  seventy  (470) 
of  the  487  names  on  the  total  list  received  estimates  from  two  or 
more  judges. 

The  first  effort  in  the  treatment  of  this  material  was  to  ascertain 
the  reliability  of  these  personal  judgments  as  estimates  of  any 
man's  ranking  in  the  individual  traits.  It  was  therefore  tabulated 
in  the  following  manner: 

'  If  one  or  more  traits  were  omitted  from  the  judgment  of  any  individual  the  remain- 
ing ratings  of  that  individual  by  that  judge  were  thrown  out;  only  complete  judgments 
were  used. 


The  New  York  and  New  York  East  Conferences 


Minister  Judge  i 


Jtidge  2 


Judge  3 


Jtidge  4  (etc.  to  si 


Serm. 
Past. 
Exec. 
Evang 

Serm. 
Past. 
Exec. 
Evan[ 

Serm. 
Past. 
Exec. 
Evani 

Serm. 
Past. 
Exec. 
Evan\ 

Serm. 
Past. 
Exec. 
Evani 

I 

3233 

2222 

2334 

1222 

2 

3   3   3   3 

3243 

3 

3   3   3   3 

3   4  4   3 

4 

1224 

1233 

2134 

I    I    2    3 

(etc.  to 

470) 

The  individual  ministers  were  then  classified,  according  to  the 
number  of  judges  rating  them,  into  six  classes,  as  follows: 

Class      I,        19     men,     rated     by     from     20     to     23     judges. 


Class    II,  28  men,  rated  by  from  16  to  19 

Class  III,  65  men,  rated  by  from  12  to  15 

Class  IV,  119  men,  rated  by  from  8  to  11 

Class    V,  126  men,  rated  by  from  4  to  7 


udges. 

udges. 

judges. 

udges. 


Class  VI,     113     men,     rated     by     from       2     to       3     judges. 

For  testing  the  reliability  of  the  judgments  the  method  of  "ran- 
dom halves"  was  used.    For  each  individual  in  Class  I,  the  first 

10,  II,  or  12  consecutive  judgments  were  averaged  for  each  trait 
separately,  and  the  averages  recorded  in  columns  la,  2a,  3a,  4a. 
The  remaining  ten  or  eleven  judgments  for  these  individuals  were 
averaged  and  recorded  in  columns  ib,  2b,  36,  and  4b.  No  attempt 
was  made  to  have  the  judgments  of  the  same  judges  recorded 
invariably  in  the  same  column,  a  or  b.    For  the  individuals  in  Class 

11,  the  averages  of  the  first  8,  9,  or  10  judges  formed  the  four  a 
columns,  and  the  remaining  8  or  9  judgments  became  the  b  columns. 
And  so  on  with  each  class. 

For  finding  the  median  from  which  individual  deviations  were 
to  be  reckoned,  a  distribution  table  for  the  entire  six  classes  together 
was  made  of  the  four  traits  in  the  two  halves.  "By  hypothesis," 
if  the  judgments  were  sufficient  in  number  for  perfect  accuracy, 
and  if  directions  were  faithfully  followed,  the  median  should  in 
every  case  have  been  3.   The  actual  result  was: 


/  a 

lb 

2  a 

2b 

30, 

3b 

4  a 

4b 

30 

30 

2.6 

2.8 

2.8 

3-0 

3-0 

3-0 

In  each  column,  however,  the  mode  was  3  and  the  median  of  all 
the  separate  judgments  was  3.  The  fraction  of  deviation  was  so 
small  that  the  "perfect"  median  3  was  actually  the  most  accurate 


lo  Stcccess  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

basis  of  comparison  for  all  traits,  columns  and  classes.  Proceeding 
from  this  median  3,  deviations  of  the  scores  of  each  individual  by 
random  halves  of  the  judgments  were  recorded  for  the  six  classes 
separately.  The  reliability  of  these  personal  judgments  of  the  rank- 
ing of  the  men  in  the  four  given  traits,  reckoned  by  the  Pearson 
coefficient  of  correlation  between  the  random  halves,  is  shown  in 
Table  I. 

TABLE  I 

Reliability  of  Judgments  of  Ministers  on  Their  Associates 

Class  No.  Men  No.  Tratt  i         Trait  2         Trait  3  Trait  4 

Rated         Judges       {Sermon)     {Pastoral)       {Exec.)        {Evangel.) 
I  19  20-23  .975  .911  .9401  .9523 


II 

28 

16-19 

.865 

.748 

.897 

.679 

III 

65 

12-15 

.772 

■757 

.653 

•505 

IV 

119 

8-1 1 

.706 

.522 

.7206 

.629 

V 

126 

4-  7 

.467 

•325 

•511 

■378 

VI 

113 

2-  3 

.2508 

.III 

.211 

.158 

This  shows  that  if  20  or  30  of  his  associates  rate  a  minister  on 
his  ability  to  preach,  to  exercise  pastoral  care,  to  carry  on 
the  business  of  church  organizations,  and  to  influence  the  life  and 
attitude  of  adults  outside  the  church  membership,  the  composite 
estimate  will,  in  the  case  of  each  of  the  four  traits,  approximate 
the  judgment  of  all  of  his  associates  closely  enough  to  be  con- 
sidered a  true  rating.  The  low  correlation  of  Class  VI  is  especially 
significant  in  view  of  the  common  practice  of  accepting  the  recom- 
mendation of  a  committee  of  two  or  three  regarding  a  man's  fitness 
for  a  position.  Professor  Hollingworth's  experiments  show  that 
in  the  case  of  desirable  traits,  the  possession  of  those  traits  by  a 
person  makes  him  a  more  accurate  judge  of  them  in  other  indi- 
viduals. All  of  the  judges  in  the  present  study  were,  in  the  judg- 
ment of  their  fellows,  possessed  of  these  four  traits  in  high  degree. 
Yet  in  the  case  of  the  individuals  judged  by  only  two  or  three 
of  them  the  correlation  of  their  judgments  ranged  from  +.11 
to  +.25. 

Pulpit  and  candidate  committees  are  usually  composed  of  a 
somewhat  larger  number,  say  from  five  to  seven,  that  is,  of  a  num- 
ber comparable  to  Class  V,  the  reliability  of  whose  judgments  runs 
from  +.32  to  +-5 1-  It  is  therefore  evident  that  in  order  to  obtain 
a  true  rating  of  an  individual's  ability  in  such  traits  as  these,  it 


The  New  York  and  New  York  East  Conferences  1 1 

is  desirable  and  usually  necessary  to  secure  the  composite  judg- 
ments of  at  least  a  score  of  individuals. 

The  low  correlation  of  Classes  V  and  VI  is  due  not  merely  to 
the  fewness  of  the  number  of  judges  but  also  to  the  fact  that  these 
men  were  less  well  known.  If  only  two  or  three  men  know  an  in- 
dividual well  enough  to  venture  an  opinion  about  him,  the  chances 
are  that  their  knowledge  of  him  is  actually  less  complete  and 
certain.  In  the  case  of  the  better  known  men  each  judge's  estimate 
is  probably  based  on  more  adequate  data  and  so  is  more  reliable. 
For  this  reason  the  estimate  of  any  two  or  three  or  half  dozen  of 
the  20  who  judged  the  men  in  Class  I  would  probably  show  a  closer 
correlation  in  regard  to  those  men  than  that  of  the  like  number  in 
Class  V  and  Class  VI.  Hence  the  rapid  drop  in  correlation  coefficients 
is  only  what  might  have  been  expected.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
may  be  for  certain  specially  prominent  individuals  a  tradition  which 
exerts  a  certain  unconscious  pressure  on  the  rating  given  by  the 
judges.  In  order  to  have  a  sufficient  number  of  men  for  the  purposes 
of  this  study  it  is  necessary  to  include  men  from  at  least  the  first 
five  classes,  and  in  some  instances  from  all  six. 

Even  when  the  self-correlation  of  two  measures  or  estimates 
of  the  same  fact  is  not  high,  if  we  know  what  those  self-correlations 
are  for  each  set  of  facts,  we  can  compute  what  the  intercorrela- 
tions  of  those  facts  are  by  the  well-known  formula  of  Spearman. 
(See  Note  i.)  Consequently  these  judgments  concerning  the 
individual  men  and  their  ranking  in  the  various  traits  make  it 
possible  to  answer  further  questions.  Thus,  Does  the  possession 
of  any  one  trait  in  high  or  low  degree  bear  but  a  chance  relation 
to  the  other  traits,  or  are  certain  of  the  traits  linked  together,  with 
chance  relations  to  the  rest?  Are  ministers  in  general  single-talent 
men?  That  is,  for  example,  does  the  possession  of  exceptional  pulpit 
ability  imply  a  compensating  lack  in  executive  or  pastoral  ability? 

Table  II  affords  an  interesting  answer  to  these  and  numerous 
similar  questions.  Pairing  each  trait  with  each  of  the  others, 
separately  for  each  of  the  six  number-of-judgment  classes,  and 
making  the  computation  for  the  halves  separately  in  each  of  these 
six  pairs  of  traits, — column  a  with  column  h  and  h  with  a  of  each 
pair,— and  then  correcting  for  attenuation  (see  Note  i),  the  fol- 
lowing relationships  are  seen.  (In  view  of  the  considerations  just 
stated,  the  arithmetical  average  of  all  the  classes  is  probably  nearest 
the  true  correlation  in  each  case.) 


12 


Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 


TABLE 

II 

[ntercorrelation  of  Traits  for 

470 

Methodist  Ministers 

Class 

/  and  2  2 

/  and  J  2 

/  and  4 

2 

2  and  3  2 

2  and  4  "^ 

3 

and  4  2 

I 

.890 

•857 

.704 

•751 

.851 

.427 

II 

.506 

.699 

.072 

.672 

•643 

.360 

III 

•473 

•799 

.189 

■587 

•723 

•331 

IV 

.286 

.718 

•445 

.469 

■Ibl 

•517 

V 

•330 

•653 

•438 

•589 

1.060 

.856 

VI 

•497 

.908 

•683 

•333 

1.015 

.586 

Average 


.50^.0543    .77^.0253    .42±.o63      .57^.0343    .84=^.043.52=^.0475 


*  Trait  i  is  Sermon  ability. 

Trait  2  is  Pastoral  ability. 

Trait  3  is  Executive  ability. 

Trait  4  is  Evangelistic  ability. 
'  Probable  Error. 

I.    Note  that  the  correlation  of  each  trait  with  each  of  the  others 
is  positive.    That  is,   in   no  case  does  the   possession   of  marked 


Note  i.    For  those  who  wish  to  follow  or  verify  the  details  of  the  work,  the  raw 
correlations  are  as  follows: 

Class  ia-2b  ib-2a  ia-3b  ib-3a  ia-4b  ib-4a  2a-3b  2b-3a  2a-4b  2b-4a  3a-4b  3b  4a 


I 

•834 

.846 

.823 

.820 

.641 

.711 

.660 

•  731 

•749 

.840 

•415 

•490 

II 

•305 

•542 

•593 

.640  - 

-.013 

•  125 

•529 

•  573 

•359 

.585 

■175 

.446 

III 

•312 

.421 

■379 

.582- 

-.019 

.261 

•323 

.546 

.366 

•545 

■293 

•123 

IV 

.244 

.124 

•514 

•Sii 

•336 

.263 

•  255 

•325 

•431 

•437 

•349 

•349 

V 

•137 

.121 

•338 

.302 

.265 

.128 

.270 

•213 

•376 

•367 

•  413 

•343 

VI 

.179 

•039 

.182 

•  239 

.071 

.265 

.011 

•  258 

.047 

.381  - 

-.013 

.229 

It  must  be  remembered  that  these  "raw"  figures  as  they  stand  are  as  misleading  as  it 
would  be  to  take,  say,  the  arithmetical  average  of  the  amount  of  work  a  man  did  on  two 
different  days  selected  at  random  and  call  it  his  average  daily  accomplishment.  It 
might  be,  but  one  day  might  be  a  national  holiday  and  the  other  one  on  which  he  was 
coming  down  with  typhoid  fever;  or  both  might  be  days  on  which  he  was  working  under 
special  pressure  and  over  time.  These  correlations  are  part  of  the  "work"  necessary  to 
find  the  "answer."  The  two  columns  represent  two  independent  measures  of  the  series 
of  facts  measured.  It  is  thus  possible  to  make  four  correlations  between  the  two  pairs  of 
measures  of  each  two  series  of  the  measures  to  be  correlated.  By  the  use  of  the  Spear- 
man formula, 


r  pq  = 


Virpiqi)    (rpiQi) 
\/{rpiP,)    (rgiQi) 


the  attenuation  due  to  chance  inaccuracies  in  the  two  series  of  measures  (for  example 
Trait  i,  columns  a  and  b,  and  Trait  2,  columns  a  and  b)  is  corrected,  and  the  real 
correlation  between  Traits  i  and  2  is  found  to  be  that  in  Table  II. 


The  New  York  and  New  York  East  Conferences  13 

ability  in  one  trait  imply  a  probable  compensation  of  poor  ability 
in  any  other. 

2.  The  high  ability  correlations  occur  between  sermon  and 
executive  and  between  pastoral  and  evangelistic  abilities. 

3.  The  abilities  which  are  least  closely  linked  are  sermon  and 
pastoral,  sermon  and  evangelistic,  and  executive  and  evangelistic. 
Yet  even  here  the  correspondence  is  in  general  much  closer  than 
that  between  a  man's  grades  in  theological  seminary  and  any  of 
these  four  abilities.  (See  correlations  on  page  67.)  The  lowest  of 
the  correlations,  that  between  sermon  and  evangelistic  abilities, 
is  exactly  the  same  as  that  between  sermon  ability  and  ability  to 
increase  church  membership  (  +  .42),  and  more  than  that  between 
sermon  ability  and  achievement  in  increasing  contributions  to 
benevolences  or  increasing  one's  own  salary,  respectively  -{-.22 
and  +.20.    (See  Table  VII,  page  37.) 

4.  In  Classes  II  and  III  the  correlation  is  startlingly  lower 
between  Traits  i  and  4  (Sermon  and  Evangelistic  abilities)  than 
between  the  others.  Note  that  in  Table  i  the  reliability  of  the  judg- 
ments in  Trait  4  (Evangelistic  ability)  is  less  than  that  of  the 
other  judgments  in  these  classes. 

One  contributing  cause  of  this  variation  is  known  to  the  in- 
vestigator. The  term  "Evangelistic  ability"  was  observed  to  have 
two  sharply  distinct  connotations  in  the  minds  of  different  judges. 
In  some  cases,  at  least,  the  carefully  worded  definition  in  the 
direction  sheet  was  practically  nullified  by  the  habitual  mind-set. 
Those  with  the  well-defined  concept  of  a  generation  ago,  of  a  certain 
dogmatic  content  and  revivalistic  method,  distinctly  "marked 
down"  in  Trait  4  some  individuals  in  Classes  II  and  III  whom  they 
felt  to  be  "dangerously  intellectualistic"  or  "modern."  In  more 
than  one  case,  on  the  other  hand,  judges  remarked  that  they  had 
"probably  marked  certain  men  quite  differently  from  the  general 
consensus  of  opinion"  (regarding  Trait  4)  because  they  did  "not 
believe  revivalism  was  evangelism." 

Thus  in  Classes  V  and  VI,  correlations  with  Evangelistic  ability 
go  from  .438  to  1.06.^  A  glance  through  the  columns  of  the  "raw" 
correlations  (given  in  Note  i)  shows  that  there,  too,  wherever 
Trait  4  occurs  there  is  an  upset  in  the  even  tenor  of  the  figures; 

*  This  "more  than  perfect"  correlation  simply  means  as  wide  a  variation  on  one  side 
of  a  ratio  that  might  be  expected  as  on  the  other.  From  .86  to  .66  would  not  be  unusual ; 
from  .86  to  i.o6  means  no  greater  variation. 


14  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

more  or  less,  perhaps,  as  the  two  schools  of  judges  fall  more  or  fewer 
into  the  same  column  by  the  random  division  into  halves. 

5.  Hence,  with  individual  variations  in  the  different  traits 
falling,  in  the  summarized  judgments  in  all  classes,  between  an 
extreme  (for  each  individual)  of  two  of  the  five  points  in  the  scale, 
an  "exceptionally  good"  minister  is  from  four  to  eight  times  as  often 
apt  to  be  "exceptionally  good"  in  all  of  the  component  traits  as 
he  is  to  show  an  outstanding  deficiency  in  some  one  of  them.  The 
inefficient  executive  is  apt  to  be  also  a  poor  sermonizer  or  pastor. 
In  general  the  mediocre  man  is  a  sum  of  mediocrities  rather  than 
a  balance  between  brilliance  in  one  ability  and  defect  in  another. 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  these  four  qualities  are  definite  factors 
in  the  work  of  the  Christian  ministry;  that  they  are  measurable 
by  the  method  of  judgment  by  associates;  that  these  measures  have 
a  high  degree  of  reliability;  and  that  the  four  qualities  are  them- 
selves closely  linked. 

The  question  at  once  arises,  What  is  the  correspondence  between 
the  degree  in  which  an  individual  possesses  these  traits  and  the 
degree  of  public  recognition  of  his  work?  One  rough  estimate  of 
this  recognition  is  at  hand,  namely,  salary  received.  (For  a  discus- 
sion of  the  validity  of  this  measure  of  "success,"  see  Part  II,  pp. 
42-43.)  We  therefore  proceed  at  once  to  study  the  relationship 
between  these  four  traits  in  these  ministers  and  the  salaries  paid 
them  by  the  churches  in  these  two  conferences. 

2.   A  Study  of  the  Relation  of  Salary  to  Ability 

In  order  to  insure  reliability  in  conclusions  from  any  set  of  facts 
it  is  necessary  to  have  two  sets  of  measures  of  those  facts.  The 
two  measures  of  salaries  received  by  the  men  in  this  study  are  the 
records  in  the  Annual  Minutes  of  the  New  York  and  New  York  East 
Conferences,  printed  in  191 7  and  1920,  of  the  salaries  paid  in  the  pre- 
ceding fiscal  years. 

In  the  judgments  by  their  associates  470  men  of  these  two  con- 
ferences had  received  ratings.  Omitting  Class  VI  leaves  367  who 
had  been  estimated  by  four  or  more  judges.  Of  these  367  men,  all 
of  whom  received  appointments  in  one  of  the  two  conferences  in 
the  spring  of  19 16,  by  the  time  of  the  1920  Conference  session  some 
had  died,  several  had  retired  or  withdrawn,  others  were  super- 
numerary, and  many  were  in  positions  in  the  church  other  than 


The  New  York  and  New  York  East  Conferences  15 

the  pastorate  so  that  the  salary  they  received  was  not  reported. 
However,  212  of  the  367  men  in  the  first  five  number-of-judgment 
classes  were  in  the  pastorate  or  district  superintendency  both  in 
1916-17  and  in  1919-20,  and  the  amount  of  their  salary  for  both 
years  was  a  inatter  of  printed  record. 

A  distribution  table  of  the  212  salaries  was  made  out  for  each 
of  the  two  years,  showing  that  the  median  salary  of  these  men  was 
$1800  in  1917,  and  in  1920  was  $2100.  The  deviations  of  the  indi- 
vidual salaries  in  the  two  years  from  the  respective  medians  were 
taken  as  the  two  measures  of  the  salary  fact,  and  correlated  with 
the  a  and  h  columns  of  the  deviations  of  the  rating  of  these  212 
individuals  from  the  median  3  in  each  of  the  four  traits.  The 
scattergram  method  of  recording  the  paired  measures  was  used, 
and  the  correlation  coefificient  was  obtained  by  the  method  of  unlike 
signs.    (For  these  "raw"  results,  see  Note  2.) 

Time  may  be  expected  to  be  a  factor  to  be  reckoned  with  in  the 
matter  of  salary.  In  the  early  part  of  an  individual's  ministry 
time  brings  "experience,"  and  presumably  improvement  in  ability 
and  in  salary.  In  the  last  part  of  a  long  ministry  the  elapsing  years 
mean  "age"  and  probably  decreasing  salaries.  Also  in  this  particular 
three-year  period  the  rising  cost  of  living  had  somewhat  affected 
even  ministerial  salaries.  Hence  the  correlation  of  salary  '17  with 
salary  '20  was  first  figured.  If  a  uniform  percentage  had  been  added 
to  each  salary  the  correlation  would  have  been   i.oo.    It  actually 

Note  2.  For  those  who  are  interested  in  following  the  work,  the  raw  correlations  are 
as  follows: 

Salary  '17  with      I  a 
Salary  '17  with    II  a 
Salary  '17  with  III  a 
Salary  '17  with  IV  a 
Date  of  Entrance  with 
Date  of  Entrance  with 
Date  of  Entrance  with 
Date  of  Entrance  with 
Date  of  Entrance  with 
The  self-correlations  are: 

Sermon  ability  (I  a,      I  b)   -\-  .67 

Pastoral  ability  (III  a,     II  b)   +  .59 

Executive  ability       (III  a,  III  b)  +  .61 

Evangelistic  ability  (IV  a,  IV  b)    +  .53     ' 

Salary  (191 7,  1920)    +  .89 

The  high  self -correlations  and  the  high  raw  correlations  of  the  traits  with  salary  are 
immediate  indications  of  the  reliability  of  both  measures. 


+ 

.76 

Salary 

'20  with      I  b       -f 

.66 

+ 

.48 

Salary 

'20  with     116       + 

.40 

+ 

•75 

Salary 

•20  with  III  6       + 

•63 

+ 

•75 

Salary 

'20  with  W  b       + 

.40 

I  a 

+ 

•15 

with 

\  b       +  .06 

II  a 

- 

.09 

with 

II  6       -  .09 

III  a 

+ 

•13 

with 

III  b       -  .04 

IV  a 

+ 

•03 

with 

IV  6       +  .03 

5al! 

iry  '17 

+ 

■35 

with  Salary  '20      -(-  .03 

1 6  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

was  +.89,  showing  the  effect  of  certain  charges  which  in  spite  of 
the  trend  had  not  increased  their  salary  apportionment,  and  of 
the  varying  increases  in  others. 

Yet  three  years  would  hardly  be  expected  to  have  a  very  great 
effect  on  any  individual's  salary  except  in  the  case  of  those  who 
during  that  period  reached  the  peak  of  opportunity  and  promotion 
or  of  those  who  in  that  time  began  the  descent  toward  retirement. 
To  find  the  actual  effect  of  this  factor  on  this  group  of  212  ministers 
the  salary  figures  for  19 17  and  for  1920  were  correlated  separately 
with  the  date  of  entrance  so  that  correction  for  attenuation  might 
be  made.  The  result  is  the  low  figure  of  +.11. 

In  order  to  take  account  of  the  factor  of  length  of  time  in  the 
ministry  as  it  might  affect  individual  abilities,  the  cross-correlations 
were  computed  between  each  man's  date  of  entrance  into  the  min- 
istry and  the  two  measures  of  his  ability  in  each  of  the  four  traits. 
(Of  these  212  men  106  had  begun  their  work  in  1896  or  earlier,  and 
106  in  1897  or  since.  So  their  deviations  by  two-year  periods  from 
the  median  'gS-gy  were  used  in  correlating  with  both  the  a  and 
b  columns  of  Traits  I,  II,  III,  and  IV.  See  Note  2  for  the  figures 
of  these  "raw"  correlations.) 

Working  out  the  self-correlations  between  all  the  various  meas- 
ures of  these  men  and  using  them  to  correct  the  cross-correlations 
by  the  Spearman  formula,  we  have  the  relationship  shown  in 
Table  III. 

TABLE  III 

Relation  of  Salary  and  Date  of  Entrance  to  Each  of  Four  Ministerial 

Abilities 

Salary  with  Sermon  Ability  r  =  +  .916 

Salary  with  Pastoral  Ability  r  =  +  .603 

Salary  with  Executive  Ability  r  =  +  -931 

Salary  with  Evangelistic  Ability  r  =  +  .80 

Date  of  Entrance  with  Sermon  Ability  r  =  +  -03 

Date  of  Entrance  with  Pastoral  Ability  r  =  —  .118 

Date  of  Entrance  with  Executive  Ability       r  =  +  .07 

Date  of  Entrance  with  Evangelistic  Ability  r  =  +  .04 

The  reliability  of  the  figures  as  measures  (as  shown  by  the  self- 
correlations)  is  so  high  that  we  may  safely  accept  certain  conclu- 
sions which  stand  out  clearly  from  this  table. 

I.  Congregations  pay  salaries  in  proportion  first  of  all  to  that 
general  ability  to  "make  things  go"  known  as  executive  ability; 


The  Neiv  York  and  New  York  East  Conferences  17 

next,  and  almost  as  much,  for  good  sermons;  while  faithful  personal 
care  of  the  poor,  the  sick,  the  troubled  and  the  bereaved  does  not 
secure  salary  recognition  even  comparable  with  that  given  to  the 
warmth  and  fervor  of  evangelistic  ability. 

2.  Without  a  separate  and  complicated  study  it  is  not  possible 
to  interpret  certainly  the  low  correlations  of  date  of  entrance  with 
abilities.  Such  an  effect  could  be  produced  by  a  sharp  contrast 
between  the  degi'ee  of  these  abilities  in  earliest  and  latest  pro- 
fessional years  and  in  the  middle  portion.  It  could  also  be  an  in- 
dication that  these  abilities  were  determined  by  original  capacity 
and  little  influenced  by  experience.  A  possible  interpretation  of 
the  negative  relation  of  length  of  ministry  and  pastoral  excellence 
is  that  the  zeal,  the  good  cheer,  and  (perhaps  most  of  all)  the 
physical  vigor  of  youth  more  than  offset  the  experience  of  age. 

Small  as  are  the  separate  correlations  of  the  length  of  time  in 
the  ministry  with  salary  and  with  the  four  traits,  it  is  nevertheless 
worth  while  to  eliminate  as  far  as  possible  the  time  effect  from  the 
relationship  of  these  abilities  to  success  as  grossly  measured  by 
salary.  This  is  done  by  what  is  known  as  "partial  correlation,"  a 
method  for  removing  the  effect  of  a  third  irrelevant  variable  to 
which  the  two  series  to  be  compared  both  correspond  to  any  appre- 
ciable degree.   Using  the  formula 

rpq'  -  (rp")    (rqv) 
rpq=     


V  (i-;V)  {i-rq-/) 

to  remove  any  illegitimate  influence  of  the  date-of-entrance  vari- 
able on  the  apparent  relations  of  salary  and  ability  (Table  III) 
we  have  as  the  relation  of  salary  and  ability  in  the  case  of  these  212 
men,  if  they  had  all  been  in  the  ministry  the  same  length  of  time,  the 
figures  shown  in  Table  IV. 

TABLE  IV 
Relation  of  Salary  to  Ability  (Factor  of  Time  Element  Removed) 

Salary  with  Sermon  Ability  r  =  +  .919 

Salary  with  Pastoral  Ability  r  =  -\-  .624 

Salary  with  Executive  Ability  r  =  -{-  .9316 

Salary  with  Evangelistic  Ability  r  =  -H  .801 

It  would  have  been  possible  to  compute  this  effect  even  more 
closely  by  taking  the  group  of  very  old  and  very  young  ministers 
and  of  those  in  the  long  stretch  of  maximum-efficiency  years  separ- 


1 8  Success  in  the  Chrislian  Ministry 

ately,  and  computing  all  the  cross-correlations  and  corrections  for 
each  group.  But  as  Table  IV  differs  from  Table  III  by  only  from 
.0006  to  .003  (except  in  the  case  of  pastoral  ability,  where  the 
correlation  with  salary  is  increased  by  .019)  the  labor  was  not  under- 
taken. 

The  conclusions  from  Table  III  are  only  strengthened  by  the 
corrections  of  Table  IV.  The  various  factors  of  ministerial  success 
are  qualities  closely  linked,  but  together  exhibiting  wide  individual 
differences.  These  differences  remain  practically  constant  during 
at  least  the  central  period  of  active  ministry.  The  degree  in  which 
a  man  is  judged  by  a  sufificient  number  of  competent  associates 
to  possess  these  desirable  traits  is  a  fairly  close  measure  of  the  scope 
he  will  find  for  exercising  them  and  of  the  public  recognition  of  his 
success,  as  indicated  by  the  salaries  paid  by  the  churches  to  which 
he  is  appointed. 

3.   A  Study  of  Conference  Statistical  Records 

Turning  from  the  measure  of  traits  by  the  summation  of  personal 
judgments  to  the  objective  record  of  the  work  of  these  same  men 
in  their  pastorates,  what  data  are  available  for  such  obiecti\'e 
determination  ? 

It  is  certain  that  there  is  much  in  the  necessary  work  of  every 
minister  that  cannot  be  put  into  statistics.  Some  of  the  most 
valuable  results  are  never  recorded,  and  the  efforts  which  produce 
them  have  no  objective  measure.  Even  the  recorded  facts,  such 
as  additions  to  church  membership,  may  have  greatly  varying 
weight  on  a  scale  of  ultimate  spiritual  values.  Increase  in  member- 
ship in  one  pastorate  may  mean  faithful  seeking  of  newcomers 
during  an  influx  of  industrial  population  and  securing  the  transfer 
of  church  letters  of  adults.  In  another  pastorate  it  may  mean 
inspiring  a  group  of  active  boys  and  girls  to  give  a  lifetime  of  service 
to  the  church.  In  a  third  community  it  may  mean  an  evangelistic 
campaign  for  the  reclamation  of  hardened  sinners.  Is  the  erection 
of  a  fine  church  edifice  to  be  "credited"  to  the  minister  who  builds 
it  or  to  the  one  who  prepares  for  it?  Yet  the  only  quantitative  way 
to  compare  the  achievements  of  a  minister  in  different  years,  or 
the  achievements  of  different  ministers,  is  by  the  numbers  of  mem- 
bers or  pupils  or  dollars  or  pastoral  calls  recorded. 

Every  pastor  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  makes  every 
year  at  his  Annual  Conference  a  detailed  report  of  his  "charge." 


77/c  New  York  and  New  York  East  Conferences  19 

These  reports  are  on  blanks  uniform  throughout  the  denomination. 
The  minutes  of  each  annual  conference  print  the  figures  from  these 
reports  in  a  tabular  form,  uniform  for  all  the  conferences,  and  these 
statistical  tables  are  collected  and  also  printed  annually  in  the  two 
volumes  (Fall  and  Spring  Conferences  respectively)  of  the  General 
Minutes  of  the  denomination. 

The  headings  of  these  statistical  tables  are: 

Ministerial  Support:  Total  amount  paid  pastor,  including  house  rent.  Rental 
value  of  parsonage.  Deficiency.  District  superintendent,  paid.  Bishops  claim, 
paid.    Conference  claimants'  claim,  paid.   Total  paid  for  ministerial  support. 

Sunday  Schools:  Number  officers  and  teachers.  Total  enrollment  in  all  de- 
partments. 

Baptisms:  Adults  baptized.  Children  baptized.  Baptized  children  who  are 
under  instruction  as  probationers. 

Church  Membership:  Probationers:  enrolled  during  year,  now  on  roll.  Full 
members  on  roll,  non-resident.   Local  preachers.    Deaths  during  year. 

Epworth  League:    Senior  members.   Junior  members. 

Church  Property:  Number  of  churches,  estimated  value.  Number  of  parson- 
ages, estimated  value.  Paid  for  building  and  improvement  on  churches  and  par- 
sonages. Paid  on  old  indebtedness  on  churches  and  parsonages.  Present  indebted- 
ness on  churches  and  parsonages.   Current  expenses,  sexton,  fuel,  light,  etc. 

General  Conference  Expenses.    Conference  Entertainment  Receipts, 

Missions:  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  (church,  special  gifts,  Sunday  schools). 
Board  of  Home  Missions  and  Church  Extension  (church,  special  gifts,  Sunday 
schools). 

General  Benevolences:  Freedmen's  Aid.  Board  of  Education.  Board  of 
S.  S.  Conference  claimants.  Temperance.  Bible  Society.  Epworth  League. 
Brotherhood.  Woman's  F^oreign  Missionary  Society.  Woman's  Home  Missionary 
Society. 

Other  Benevolences  and  Miscellaneous. 

Of  this  amount  of  statistical  material  collected,  tabulated  and 
printed  at  such  great  expense  of  time,  labor  and  money,  much  is 
obviously  part  of  the  mechanism  for  running  a  great  connectional 
business,  for  ensuring  accuracy  and  attention  in  so  great  and  hetero- 
geneous a  mass  of  working  units.  Does  it  contain  any  facts  which 
might  be  significant  measures  of  abilities  and  progress  in  the  individ- 
ual pastors?  By  what  method  could  such  facts  be  detached  from 
the  impersonal  files  of  "conferences,"  "districts"  and  "appointments" 
and  so  arranged  as  to  show  the  achievements  of  the  itinerant 
pastors? 

There  could,  of  course,  be  no  attempt  to  get  back  of  the  figures  as 
given.  It  must  be  assumed  that  the  numbers  in  the  table  were  the 
actual  number  of  members  of  each  church  at  the  transition  from  one 


20  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

conference  year  to  another  and  not  sometimes  an  approximation. 
Ministers  whose  salary  was  reported  as  $750  must  be  assumed  to 
have  received  $750,  without  speculation  as  to  whether  for  one  man 
$150  of  it  was  only  "promised"  when  he  went  to  conference  or 
whether  wedding  fees  might  have  added  $50  to  the  actual  income  of 
another. 

For  purposes  of  experiment  the  following  procedure  was  carried 
out  in  the  present  study. 

A.  Among  the  tabular  headings  the  following  were  chosen  for 
attention,  with  the  indicated  questions  in  view: 

Pastor's  Salary  ("including  house  rent").  Does  increase  of  a  man's 
salary  over  his  own  salary  of  the  previous  year  indicate  either  time- 
progress  or  increasing  worth?  Does  increase  over  his  predecessor's 
salary  indicate  relative-value  judgments  by  the  congregations? 

Church  Membership  (total  of  probationers  and  full  members  "now 
on  roll").  Does  the  net  annual  increase  or  decrease  of  membership 
in  a  given  church  show  anything  significant  regarding  the  pastor's 
special  abilities?  If  one  man  habitually  adds  to  the  net  membership 
of  whatever  church  he  is  serving  while  another  in  general  just  about 
or  not  quite  succeeds  in  keeping  up  with  losses  through  death  or 
removal,  is  there  any  ascertainable  relation  between  these  facts  and 
the  sermon,  pastoral,  executive  or  evangelistic  abilities  of  the  two 
men? 

Sunday  School  Membership  ("total,  all  departments".)  Can  there 
be  traced  a  relation  between  the  incumbency  of  certain  pastors  and 
the  fluctuations  in  the  growth  of  the  Sunday  School?  If  so,  in 
relation  to  what  ministerial  trait? 

Property  Valuation.  Is  the  tradition  that  certain  men  are  (mate- 
rial) "builders"  sustained  by  a  record  of  new  churches  or  parsonages 
or  additions  thereto  in  the  charges  these  men  have  served?  What 
special  ability  is  indicated? 

Money  Payment  on  Property.  Are  there  some  men  who  neglect 
the  insurance  and  repairs  and  others  who  always  attend  to  them? 
Is  there  here  any  criterion  of  "executive  ability"? 

Debts,  Incurred  or  Paid  Off.  May  this  be  a  contributing  item, 
throwing  light  on  the  same  question  of  "executive"  traits? 

Missions  (Home  and  Foreign  Boards).  Is  the  amount  paid  to 
the  great  national  and  world-wide  interests  of  the  church  a  co- 
variant  with  the  pastorate  of  a  church?  If  so,  what  does  zeal  in  this 
interest  indicate? 


The  New  York  and  New  York  East  Conferences  21 

Benevolences  (including  all  other  local  and  general  interests  except 
the  Epworth  League,  Methodist  Brotherhood,  and  various  expense 
accounts  which  vary  with  the  proximity  of  conventions,  and  the 
like;  and  including  here  rather  than  in  "Missions"  the  Women's 
Missionary  Societies,  home  and  foreign,  because  these  are  autono- 
mous and  more  dependent  on  local  than  pastoral  leadership).  Does 
this*  amount  indicate  anything,  or  anything  other  than  what  may  be 
deduced  from  the  data  on  Missions? 

B.  To  determine  whether  there  is  any  significance,  these  figures 
must  first  be  traced  out  for  a  series  of  individuals.  Twenty-five  was 
the  minimum  chosen  for  the  preliminary  testing  out,  and  fifteen 
years  seemed  a  reasonable  length  of  time  for  the  successive  annual 
figures  to  show  individual  trends.  Copies  of  the  Annual  Minutes  of 
the  New  York  and  New  York  East  Conferences  were  obtained  for  the 
fifteen  years  prior  to  and  including  19 16  (from  which  Minutes  the 
list  had  been  made  out  for  the  judgments  on  the  separate  ministerial 
traits).  The  1916  Minutes  give  for  each  pastor  then  appointed  his 
previous  record  of  appointments,  within  and  without  his  present 
conference.  From  these  were  first  eliminated  those  who  had  not 
been  in  the  pastorate  within  the  bounds  of  these  two  conferences 
for  the  entire  period  of  fifteen  years.  From  the  remainder  were 
chosen  twenty-five  men,  divided  as  evenly  as  possible  between  the 
two  conferences  and  between  the  six  classes  in  respect  to  the  number 
of  judgments  made  upon  them  by  their  fellow  ministers. 

Referring  to  Table  I  for  comparative  numbers,  by  using  as  nearly 
as  possible  5  per  cent,  this  series  was  allotted  as  follows: 


Class 

/ 

II 

III 

IV 

V 

VI 

Number  of  judgments 

20-23 

16-19 

12-15 

8-1 1 

4-7 

2-3 

Number  of  individuals 

19 

28 

65 

119 

126 

113 

Number  for  tabulation 

2 

2 

4 

6 

6 

5 

C.  The  first  task  in  this  experiment  must  be  to  determine  the 
reliability  of  the  figures  as  measures.  Therefore,  under  each  of  the 
chosen  headings,  all  figures  were  arranged  in  two  columns  by  the 
eight  even  and  seven  odd  calendar  years.  To  get  the  figures  for  each 
individual  minister,  a  table  was  made  of  all  the  charges  each  had 
served,  by  years,  and  the  selected  statistics  were  copied  for  these 
charges  for  every  year  in  which  any  one  of  the  twenty-five  men  was 
there,  and  for  the  year  preceding  such  pastorate  when  any  other  than 
one  of  the  twenty-five  was  the  preceding  incumbent.    This  informa- 


22 


Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 


tion  was  assembled  according  to  the  following  scheme,  for  each  of 
the  ninety-nine  churches  served  by  the  twenty-five  men  in  the 
fifteen  years. 


Pastor 

Salary 

Members 

.S.  .S. 

Church 
Value 

Other 
Headings 

Missions 

Benev- 
olences 

I90I 

$2,400 

205 

168 

$75,000 

S150 

$86 

1902 

A.  B. 

2,400 

168 

168 

75,000 

75 

113 

1903 

not  25 

1904 

not  25 

1905 

not  25 

1906 

not  25 

1907 

not  25 

1908 

not  25 

1909 

not  25 

I9I0 

not  25 

2,500 

267 

255 

210,000 

100 

70 

I9II 

C.  D. 

2,000 

341 

288 

225,000 

160 

244 

I9I2 

not  25 

2,000 

277 

331 

225,000 

124 

no 

I9I3 

E.  F. 

2,000 

225 

326 

94,000 

202 

191 

I9I4 

E.  F. 

2,000 

209 

342 

94,000 

176 

287 

I9I5 

E.  F. 

2,500 

219 

282 

94,000 

172 

345 

I9I6 

G.  H. 

2,000 

268 

335 

95,000 

157 

266 

Fig.    I.    Form  for  15  Years'  Fiscal  Record  of  Each  of  99  Charges 

From  these  charts  of  the  churches  served  were  then  prepared 
charts  for  each  of  the  twenty-five  individual  pastors;  that  for 
Individual  No.  8  being  given  here  as  a  sample. 

Explanation  of  Columns  in  Fig.  2 

Salary:  Owing  to  the  relative  fixity  of  salaries  on  a  given  charge,  and  to  the 
group  or  "grade"  system  of  rotation  when  ministers  are  moved  (explained  in 
detail  in  Part  II,  p.  42)  the  significant  thing  under  this  item  is  not  the  amount 
of  difference,  but  the  fact  of  an  actual  increase  or  decrease  of  the  man's  salary  as 
compared  with  his  own  in  the  preceding  year,  and  with  his  predecessor's  in  a  year 
when  he  was  moved  to  a  new  appointment.  Hence  increase  (plus);  decrease 
(minus) ;  and  no  change  (equals)  were  the  only  records  made. 

Members  (Church  and  Sunday  School):  The  figures  refer  in  each  case  to  the 
numerical  increase  or  decrease  of  any  given  year  over  the  directly  preceding  year 
in  that  church.  For  example:  Rev.  Mr.  8  in  1902,  the  first  year  of  the  record,  is 
preaching  at  A.  The  church  membership  is  269.  The  1901  Minutes  show  that  in 
that  (preceding)  year  the  membership  was  215.  So  in  the  even  year  column  the 
first  entry  is  4-54-  At  the  close  of  that  conference  year  Mr.  8  is  moved  to  B.,  and 
his  report  from  B.  in  the  1903  Minutes  shows  a  membership  of  674.  But  the  1902 
membership  at  B.  was  651.  So  in  the  first  space  in  the  odd-year  column  is  entered 
4-78.  He  remains  at  B.,  and  in  1904  the  membership  is  697,  which  compared  with 
the  1903  membership  of  671  makes  the  second  even-year  entry  4-23;  and  so  on. 


The  New  York  and  New  York  East  Conferences 


23 


-0 

00 

+ 

0 
+ 

■00 

+ 

+ 

10 

+ 

ON 

00 

+ 

ON 

+ 

0 

0 

+ 

0 
10 

1 

+ 

0^ 
+ 

-t- 
+ 

+ 

Ov 

1 

0 

01 

T 

C) 

+ 

ON 

+ 

-c 

CO 

II 

+ 

0 

+ 

-t- 

ON 
ON 

M 
1 

1 

+ 

On 

ON 

a 

1 

0 
1 

+ 

1 

m 

+ 

00 
00 
-+ 

1 

0 

1 

1 

1 

CO 

10 

1 

1^ 

-Q 

+ 

+ 

C 
II 

0 
II 

0 
II 

0 
II 

0 

II 

+ 

e 

0 

II 

+ 

c 
11 

0 
11 

+ 

0 
II 

+ 

0 

II 

+ 

1  ^ 

-0 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

a 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

CO 
+ 

Property 
Value 

-« 

+ 

II 

+ 

II 

II 

II 

II 

CI 

+ 

a 

H 

II 

II 

II 

II 

II 

II 

II 

0 

<S 

0 
-1- 

+ 

n- 
1 

ON 
1 

ON 
M 

+ 

■00 
+ 

0 
ON 

+ 

+ 

4- 

0 

CI 
CI 

+ 

0 

1 

+ 

1^1 

+ 

+ 

00 

+ 

+ 

-1- 

+ 

0 

NO 

+ 

nO 
+ 

re 
CI 

+ 

-Ci 

+ 

+ 

0 

+ 

1 

+ 

+ 

CI 

+ 

10 

+ 

-f- 

+ 

« 

+ 

<~0 
+ 

+ 

CI 
+ 

+ 

ON 

+ 

0 
+ 

10 

1 

+ 

CI 
+ 

(0 

6 

-C; 

1 

II 

T 

a 

+ 

1 

11 

+ 

II 

+ 

-0 

+ 

II 

+ 

11 

+ 

II 

II 

+ 

a 

+ 

II 

+ 

+ 

1 

II 

1 

1 

0 

< 

cQ  D3  oa 

u  u  u  u 

Q 

WWW 

u,  u. 

0 

tn 

n 
In 

0 

H 

E 

H 
0 
H 

P 

p 

rt- 

p 

p 

0 
p 

,0 

00 

p 

.0 

0 

« 

N 

^ 

10 

NO 

u 


24  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

At  C.  where  he  is  appointed  in  1906,  Mr.  8  adds  to  the  original  (1905)  membership 
of  652,  during  the  first  3  years,  a  total  of  245  members,  recorded  by  annual  increase 
under  the  three  entry-spaces;  but  in  1909  the  membership  drops  from  897  to  860, 
so  the  entry  for  1909  is  —37.  Thus  each  individual's  work  in  sustaining  the 
numerical  strength  of  churches  under  his  care  is  based  on  a  comparison  of  suc- 
cessive years  in  the  same  church,  not  on  the  relative  size  of  the  churches  to  which 
he  is  sent.   The  same  procedure  is  followed  with  the  Sunday  School  figures. 

Property.  Money  paid  on  Repairs,  etc.  Debts  paid  or  incurred:  Under  these  three 
headings  are  recorded  not  amounts  but  the  simple  fact  that  no  changes  were  made 
in  the  church  and  parsonage  valuation  (=),  that  new  buildings  or  additions 
increased  the  valuation  (+),  or  that  an  old  building  had  been  disposed  of  or 
valuation  reduced  to  correspond  with  deterioration  of  property  values  (  — );  that 
money  for  repairs,  etc.,  had  (+)  or  had  not  (  — )  been  spent;  and  that  debts  had 
been  contracted  ( — )  or  paid  (+)  in  part  or  in  full.  (Where  there  was  no  indebted- 
ness to  pay,  the  fact  is  indicated  by  "  =  0.") 

Missions  and  Benevolences:  Under  these,  amounts  of  increase  or  decrease  are 
recorded  on  the  same  basis  of  annual  comparison  with  the  same  church  as  was 
used  for  membership  records. 

As  a  preliminary  method,  only  the  algebraic  sum  of  the  pluses 
and  minuses  in  each  column  in  Fig.  2  was  used  as  the  measure  for 
each  individual.  With  this  material  a  new  table  was  formed,  with 
the  deviations  of  each  individual  from  the  median  mark  of  the 
group,  in  each  pair  of  columns,  and  the  Pearson  coefficient  of 
correlation  was  calculated  for  the  reliability  of  each  of  these  nu- 
merical measures  of  these  twenty-five  men,  with  the  results  shown 
in  Table  V. 

TABLE  V 

Reliability  of  Increase  or  Decrease  Measures  by  Plus  and  Minus  Signs 

(Data  from  Fig.  2.) 

Increase  or  decrease  of  own  salary r  =   +  .09 

Increase  or  decrease  over  predecessor's  salary r  =   ■\-  .198 

Increase  or  decrease  of  church  memberships r  =   -\-  .42 

Increase  or  decrease  of  Sunday  School  memberships      r  =    —  .049 

Increase  or  decrease  of  property  valuation r  —   —  .18 

Money  paid  or  not  paid  on  church  property ''=+  .69 

Debts  incurred,  paid,  or  left  in  statu  quo r=+.i9 

Increase  or  decrease  of  amount  paid  for  Missions r  =   —  .16 

Increase  or  decrease  of  amount  paid,  other  Benevolences      ....  r  =  -\-  .057 

Such  wide  variations  without  apparent  reason  might  possibly 
be  due  to  the  fact  that  the  plus  and  minus  measure  is  not  fine  enough 
to  be  reliable.  Hence  a  new  series  of  measures  was  made  out  for 
each  of  the  four  activities  recorded  under  the  statistical  head- 
ings  of    Church    members;    Sunday    School    members;    Missions: 


The  New  York  and  New  York  East  Conferences  25 

and  Benevolences,  and  worked  through  for  the  twenty-five  men.* 
In  the  method  next  followed,  the  numerical  amount  of  increase 
or  decrease  over  the  preceding  year,  as  recorded  in  the  individual 
record  of  Fig.  2,  was  used  as  a  percentage,  and  the  rate  was  calculated 
on  the  base  of  the  amount  recorded  in  the  year  preceding  the  in- 
dividual's pastorate  in  a  given  church.  Elements  of  error  could 
be  discerned  in  any  practicable  plan  of  choosing  such  a  base,  but 
this  procedure  was  worked  out  on  the  hypothesis  that  a  new  pastor 
in  his  first  year  faces  a  certain  situation  as  regards  membership 
and  habits  of  giving.  His  own  personality  and  methods  supply  a 
new  factor  which  may  be  supposed  to  be  constant  for  the  time  of 
his  pastorate.  Hence  the  base  for  each  year  of  a  given  pastorate 
remains  that  of  the  status  left  by  his  predecessor,  not  a  new  base 
of  the  situation  as  altered  by  succeeding  years  of  his  own  efforts. 
Concretely:  Taking  again  Individual  No.  8  (cf.  Fig.  2).  The 
bases  will  be  the  number  of  members  or  the  amounts  paid  for  the 
year  preceding  the  beginning  of  the  tabulation  (1901),  and  for 
the  years  preceding  the  beginning  of  each  new  pastorate,  namely, 
in  this  case,  1902,  1905,  1909,  1910,  1913,  and  1915.  Working  this 
out  for  the  single  item  of  church  membership,  reference  to  the 
minutes  for  the  charges  indicated  here  as  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  and  G, 
shows  that  the  memberships  at  the  beginnings  of  these  successive 
pastorates  of  No.  8  were  as  follows:  Members 

A 
B 
C 
D 
E 
F 
G 

The  calculations  for  No.  8  are  shown  in  Fig.  3. 

And  so  for  each  of  the  four  measures  for  each  of  the  twenty-five 
men,  the  average  obtained  by  dividing  the  algebraic  sum  of  the 
annual  percentages  of  increase  or  decrease  by  the  eight  years  in 
the  "even  year"  and  the  seven  in  the  "odd  year"  column  was  taken 
as  the  individual's  measure  in  the  trait  in  question.    The  result  for 

'  For  more  elaborate  computations  only  part  of  the  measures  were  chosen  for  calcu- 
lation. Those  activities  which  might  seem  to  be  most  closely  connected  with  the  indi- 
viduality of  the  pastor  rather  than  with  the  makeup  and  habits  of  the  local  offical 
board  were  the  fluctuations  in  membership  of  church  and  Sunday  school,  and  in  con- 
tributions to  inte»£sts  other  than  the  local  church  enterprises. 


I90I 

215 

1902 

651 

1905 

652 

1909 

532 

I9I0 

572 

I9I3 

504 

I9I5 

752 

26 


Success  in  the  Christian  Ministrv 


the  twenty-five  men  is  shown  in  Table  \'I,  Parts  I,  2,  3,  and  4. 
In  each  part  of  the  table.  Column  A  (i)  shows  the  total  numerical 
net  increase  or  decrease  in  members  or  dollars  as  the  case  may  be, 
in  the  churches  under  the  charge  of  these  twenty-five  ministers 
for  the  even  years,  1902-1916  inclusive  (cf.  Fig.  2,  p.  23).    Column 

Column  B — Odd  Years 


Column  A 

— Even  Years 

Year 

Base 

Incr.  or       Rate  % 
Deer. 

1902 

215(A) 

54                  .25 

1904 

651  (B) 

23                  .035 

1906 

652  (C) 

166                  .25 

1908 

652  (C) 

23                  -035 

1910 

532  (D) 

32                  .06 

1912 

572  (D) 

39                  -06 

1914 

504  (F) 

70                  .15 

1916 

752  (G) 

-35               -05 

8) +.79 

+10% 


Fir..  3. 


Year       Base 

Incr.  or 
Deer. 

Rate  % 

1903  651  (B) 

78 

.12 

1905  651  (B) 

57 

.09 

1907  652  (C) 

56 

.085 

1909  652  (C) 

-37 

-.058 

191 1   572  (E) 

169 

•30 

1913  572  (E) 

3 

.005 

1915  504  (F) 

27 

•05 

7)  +.59 

+8% 

G   Out  Increase   and 

Decrease 

Percentages 


A  (2)  gives  the  percentage  of  average  annual  net  increase  or  decrease 
for  the  same  ministers  and  charges  for  the  same  period  (cf.  Fig. 
3  above).  Column  B  (i)  and  (2)  gives  the  same  facts  for  the  odd 
years  of  the  period,  1903-19 15. 

The  figures  as  they  stand  are  of  interest.  Taking  first  the  gross 
totals;  the  net  result  of  the  labor  for  15  years  each  of  25  pastors, 
so  chosen  as  to  be  a  representative  sampling  of  the  Methodist 
ministers  of  the  two  Conferences  covering  the  territory  of  the  largest 
city  in  the  United  States,  is  4877,  or  a  little  less  than  13  members 
each,  per  year.  But  actually  the  bulk  of  these  were  the  additions 
under  the  pastorates  of  one  fourth  of  these  men,  and  the  detailed 
records  show  that  these  were  in  those  pastorates  during  which  these 
men  were  in  growing  residence  sections  of  the  cities  included. 

For  13  of  the  25  men  the  algebraic  or  net  totals  of  changes  in 
membership  occurring  in  the  churches  during  their  pastorates 
show  an  actual  loss  of  927  during  this  period.  That  is,  if  by  some 
means  the  membership  of  the  churches  could  have  been  preserved 
intact,  without  deaths  or  removals,  it  would  have  been  larger  than 
it  was  with  all  the  additions  secured  by  these  men  under  their 
several  pastorates. 


The  New  York  and  New  York  East  Conferences 


27 


TABLE  VI.    PART    i 
Numerical  and  Percentage  Increase  or  Decrease  in  Church  Membership, 


1902-1916 


Column  A 


Column  B 


Individ. 


I 

2 
3 
4 
5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
10 
II 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 

17 
18 

19 
20 

21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
Total 


(I) 
Total 

491 
1629 

-94 
263 

-182 

54 
10 

372 
-86 
677 

lOI 

—22 

128 

—220 

-3 

53 

116 

70 

—  II 

-327 
-108 

87 

31 

223 

-25 
3227 


(2) 
Av.  % 
Annual 

•095 

.15 
-.06 

.07 

—  .004 
.01 
.007 
.10 

-•03 
.116 
.04 

—  .007 
.09 

-.07 
-.025 

.025 

.04 

.06 

—  .01 
-.04 
-.045 

.045 
.015 
.10 

—  .01 

.015' 


(I) 
Total 

164 

620 

-197 

45 
182 

-133 
-37 
347 

27 

356 

—  II 

-8 

69 

18 


9 

-76 

-77 
257 
227 

-15 
-54 
-18 
-16 
1650 


(2) 
Av.  % 
Annual 

•037 
.07 
-.04 

—  .016 
.04 

—  .02 

-•03 
.08 
.006 
.07 

-•05 

—  .006 
.12 
.005 

—  .001 

—  .009 

—  .004 

-■05 

—  .02 
.09 
.1 1 

—  .009 

-•03 

—  .006 

-•003 

—  .006  '■ 


{Numerical 

Total 

A  and  B) 


655 

2249 

—291 

308 

o 

-79 
-27 
719 
-59 
1033 
90 

-30 

197 

—  202 

—  II 

32 

125 

-6 

-88 

-70 

119 

72 

-23 

205 

-41 

4877 


^  Median,  not  total.  Median  of  two  halves  together,  .005.  The  difference  being  so 
slight,  zero  was  taken  as  the  central  tendency  and  the  correlation  was  calculated  with 
the  figures  as  they  stand. 

By  the  Pearson  formula,  r  —   +.32. 

In  the  "if"  must  be  sought  the  reasons  not  only  for  the  net  losses 
under  half  of  the  ministers  in  this  representative  sampling  of  the 
two  conferences,  but  also  for  the  variations  in  the  gains  and  losses 
in  odd  and  even  calendar  years.  Fifteen  (60  per  cent.)  of  the  25 
individuals  show  unlike  signs  when  the  two  columns  are  compared, 
hence  the  reliability  may  well  be  expected  to  be  low.  (Cf.  r  =  +.32.) 

One  disturbing  factor  in  this  item  is  the  difference  in  accuracy  of 


28  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

local  church  records  from  which  the  annual  reports  are  made.  In 
the  shifting  city  population,  what  was  said  of  one  church  is  true  of 
others:  "It  has  an  excellent  machinery  for  gaining  and  recording 
new  members,  but  no  machinery  for  accounting  accurately  the 
losses  among  the  transients."  Some  ministers  take  the  records  as 
they  find  them;  others  have  a  passion  for  accuracy  which  leads  them 
to  "weed  out"  the  membership  roll  as  soon  as  they  reach  a  new  church 
(which  probably  accounts  for  the  large  "minus"  in  some  of  the  first- 
year  pastorates).  In  evident  recognition  of  this  source  of  error,  the 
conference  record  blanks  were  changed  once  during  the  period 
covered  by  this  study,  to  enter  under  separate  divisions  "members 
on  roll"  and  "non-resident  members."  After  this  division  appeared 
in  the  statistics,  the  "non-residents"  were  not  included  in  the  totals. 
This  is  actually  the  cause  of  some  of  the  large  negative  numbers  in  a 
given  year.  But  although  a  variable,  it  was  considered  to  affect  all 
the  records. 

Another  disturbing  factor  is  the  wide  divergence  of  type  in 
communities  served  by  some  of  the  individual  men,  including,  for 
example,  student  assistantships  in  large  churches,  rural  circuits, 
residential  sections  of  town  or  suburbs,  and  great  "downtown" 
churches  in  New  York  or  New  England  cities. 

Cross-currents  of  mighty  industrial,  economic,  and  racial  develop- 
ments are  the  greatest  and  most  baffling  of  all  the  variables  affecting 
these  figures.  For  example,  let  us  trace  one  of  the  50  per  cent  of  the 
men  showing  a  negative  total  for  membership  changes.  Some  of 
his  pastorates  have  been  in  fields  where  the  general  conditions  are 
known  to  this  investigator  (although  the  specific  work  of  the  man  is 
not). 

One  pastorate  was  in  a  manufacturing  village  where  the  Protestant 
church-going  residents  had  been  superseded  by  the  influx  into  a 
certain  industry  of  foreign-speaking  Roman  Catholics,  who  filled  all 
the  available  housing  within  the  territory  of  that  church.  Another  of 
his  appointments  was  in  a  small  but  growing  city  where  the  same  in- 
dustrial-racial-religious change  was  complicated  by  the  growing 
ambitions  of  the  younger  generation  within  the  church  itself.  An 
appreciable  percentage  of  the  total  membership  was  at  that  time 
between  sixteen  and  twenty-four  years  of  age.  Within  a  short  space 
of  time  so  large  a  number  of  these  had  gone  away  to  college  and 
thence  to  professional  life,  or  had  married  and  moved  away,  or  had 
identified  themselves  with  a  more  "fashionable"  church  because  of 


The  New  York  and  New  York  East  Conferences  29 

their  growing  social  ambitions,  that  not  only  was  the  numerical 
membership  thereby  much  reduced,  but  the  changes  had  also  re- 
moved a  large  proportion  of  the  church's  active,  vitalizing  power 
to  draw  to  itself  new  members. 

Another  appointment  of  this  same  individual  was  in  a  still  larger 
city  where  business  and  real-estate  trends  were  swiftly  altering  the 
entire  section  within  a  workable  radius  from  the  church  center, 
from  residences  of  home-owning  or  steady-renting  families  with 
growing  children,  on  one  side,  to  a  manufacturing  and  men's  board- 
ing-house district.  On  the  other,  what  residences  remained  became 
almost  completely  Jewish  rather  than  Protestant.  Under  such 
circumstances  habitual  loss  in  membership  totals  is  significant  of 
the  changing  field  and  changing  problems  of  the  ministry  as  a 
whole,  rather  than  of  the  possession  or  non-possession  of  certain 
personal  traits  by  the  individual  minister. 

To  make  the  figures  of  gain  or  loss  in  church  membership  under 
a  given  minister  a  reliable  measure  of  any  trait,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  have  (i)  accurate  records,  in  which  all  losses  as  well  as  gains  are 
accounted  annually;  and  (2)  some  means  of  enumerating  and 
measuring  the  factors,  other  than  the  individuality  of  the  pastor, 
which  enter  into  the  local  situation. 

Taking  up  next  the  numerical  and  percentage  increase  or  de- 
crease in  Sunday  school  membership,  the  results  are  as  shown  in 
Table  VI,  Part  2.  Indisputably,  the  increase  or  decrease  of  Sunday 
school  membership  is  in  itself  no  indication  of  anything  whatever 
about  the  minister  in  charge.  It  is  quite  plain  that  all  the  variant 
factors  which  disturb  the  reliability  of  church  membership  as  an 
index  are  also  at  work  upon  the  development  and  growth  of  any 
given  Sunday  school.  In  some  of  the  fields  occupied  at  different 
times  by  this  random  sampling  of  ministers,  while  it  might  be 
possible  by  special  adaptations  to  build  up  a  membership  of  transient 
industrial  and  boarding-house  population,  there  might  be  no  resi- 
dent children  to  form  a  proportionally  large  school. 

Moreover,  while  the  church  membership  does  in  some  degree  re- 
flect the  individual  differences  in  successive  ministers  (the  correlation 
though  small  is  positive),  some  churches  feel  that  the  Sunday  school 
is  entirely  the  province  of  the  local  officers  and  teachers;  and  some 
pastors  feel  that  it  should  be,  and  leave  it  to  their  more  or  less 
efficient  initiative.  About  all  that  is  certainly  shown  by  these 
figures  is  that  there  is  no  defined  or  general  relationship  between 


30 


Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 


the  policy 

and  cond 

uct  of  the  Siindj 

ly  school 

and  individual  pastors 

effort. 

TABLE  VI. 

PART  2 

Numerical 

AND     I'ERCENTAGE     INCREASE 

OR   Decrease  in   Sunday  Schooi 

Membership, 

1902-1916 

Column  A 

Column  B 

(Numerical 

Individ. 

(I) 

(2) 

(i) 

(2) 

Total 

Total 

Av.  % 
Annual 

Total 

Av.  % 
Annual 

A  and  B) 

I 

2l8 

.046 

3« 

•045 

256 

2 

35 

.027 

318 

.04 

353 

3 

34 

.09 

—  Ill 

—  .01 

123 

4 

141 

.06 

467 

.22 

608 

5 

-i77 

-.07 

143 

.01 

-234 

6 

17 

-.005 

195 

.06 

212 

7 

48 

.09 

6 

.06 

54 

8 

423 

.07 

220 

.06 

643 

9 

20 

•03 

-187 

-•03 

-167 

lO 

-69 

-.017 

58 

.017 

—  II 

II 

439 

•23 

-138 

-•05 

301 

12 

-52 

.02 

138 

.06 

86 

13 

III 

•075 

II 

•03 

122 

14 

-97 

—  .01 

95 

.06 

—  2 

15 

84 

•"3 

-93 

-.04 

-9 

16 

53 

.02 

21 

.02 

74 

17 

205 

•17 

-51 

-.003 

154 

i8 

H 

.002 

7 

—  .01 

21 

19 

-216 

—  .10 

132 

.10 

-84 

20 

—  270 

-.005 

99 

.028 

-171 

21 

119 

.18 

—  no 

-.09 

9 

22 

17 

.045 

102 

.04 

119 

22, 

12 

.00 

0 

.004 

12' 

24 

-38 

—  .01 

125 

.07 

87 

25_ 

-125 

-•03 

30 

-.008 

-95 

Total 

946 

.027  ^ 

1515 

•03' 

2461 

'  Median,  not  total.  Median  of  two  halves  together,  +.03.     From  the  median  +.03 
as  the  central  tendency,  a  new  table  of  individual  deviations  was  made  and  the  coeffi- 
cient of  reliability  calculated  between  the  odd-  and  even-year  columns. 
By  the  Pearson  formula,  r  =   —.42. 

Quite  different  is  the  result  shown  in  Table  VI,  Part  3,  the 
numerical  or  percentage  increase  or  decrease  in  contributions  to  the 
Mission  Boards.  The  high  reliability  of  these  figures  (^=+.87) 
might  possibly  have  been  expected  from  inspection  of  the  like  and 
unlike  signs  between  the  two  columns  of  percentages,  but  the  super- 


The  New  York  and  New  York  East  Conferences 


31 


ficial  comparison  between  the  numerical  and  percentage  columns 
shows  apparently  startling  discrepancies.  For  example,  note 
Individual  No.  10.  How  can  a  man  who  in  even  calendar  years 
annually  increases  the  missionary  collection  by  227  per  cent  show 
a  total  deficiency  of  $176  in  the  same  period?    The  explanation  is 


TABLE  VI.    PART  3 

Numerical  and  Percentage  Increase  or  Decrease  in  Contk 
Mission  Boards,  1902-1916 


ibutions  to  the 


Column  A 

Column  B 

{Numerical 

'ndivid. 

(I) 

(2) 

(I) 

(2) 

Total 

Total 

Av.  % 
Annual 

Total 

Av.  % 
Annual 

A  and  B) 

I 

$   -258 

.15 

$      390 

.22 

S       132 

2 

-7412 

.85 

4844 

1.27 

-2568 

3 

185 

■05 

-459 

-.07 

-274 

4 

279 

4-35 

172 

2.07 

451 

5 

—  2269 

-.04 

2042 

.18 

—227 

6 

-309 

—  .11 

283 

-•05 

-26 

7 

20 

I. II 

58 

.96 

78 

8 

-558 

.12 

979 

.26 

421 

9 

205 

.11 

-119 

.09 

86 

10 

-176 

2.27 

285 

3.01 

109 

II 

16 

•25 

—  21 

•31 

-5 

12 

-53 

.04 

108 

•31 

55 

13 

-4 

.11 

108 

.28 

104 

14 

-2,7 

.38 

485 

.66 

448 

15 

434 

■36 

-50 

■36 

384 

16 

—  III 

.07 

-17 

.21 

-128 

17 

639 

•38 

-325 

.08 

314 

18 

62 

•71 

20 

•37 

82 

19 

-3 

.07 

13 

.01 

10 

20 

91 

.06 

13 

.12 

104 

21 

-43 

■2i 

-19 

•23 

-62 

22 

-27 

-.09 

—  240 

-•37 

-267 

22> 

72 

•55 

47 

.83 

119 

24 

-116 

-•03 

30 

•05 

-86 

£1 

30 

.06 

16 

.04 

46 

Total 

$  -9343 

.13* 

I8643 

.23  « 

$  -700 

*  Median,  not  total.  Median  of  two  halves  together,  +.21.  With  due  consideration 
for  the  mode  as  well  as  the  median  of  the  two  columns,  +.20  was  taken  as  the  best 
expression  of  the  central  tendency.  The  necessary  table  of  deviations  was  worked  out 
and  the  reliability  correlation  calculated  between  the  money-raising  achievements  of 
the  odd-  and  even-years. 

By  the  Pearson  formula,  c  =   -f.87. 


32  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

in  the  basis  of  comparison.  The  "deficiency"  relates  to  the  gain  or 
loss,  absolutely,  compared  with  each  preceding  year.  The  rate  is  the 
average,  in  each  pastorate,  compared  with  what  the  church  was 
paying  the  year  before  that  minister's  arrival.  So  it  happens  in  this 
case;  on  a  base  of  $60  as  the  total  paid  to  both  mission  boards  the 
last  year  of  the  preceding  pastorate,  the  first  year  shows  a  payment 
of  $135,  or  an  increase  of  125  per  cent.  When  by  special  effort  in 
another  year  the  sum  of  $408  is  raised,  the  payment  of  $285  the 
year  following  that,  although  it  is  a  numerical  loss,  compared  with 
the  preceding  year,  of  $123,  is  still  an  increase  for  the  year  of  375 
per  cent  over  the  church's  original  basis. 

So  with  Minister  No.  17,  who  shows  in  his  odd  years  an  annual 
increase  rate  of  8  per  cent,  side  by  side  with  a  net  money  loss, 
compared  with  each  highest  possible  point,  of  $325.  In  his  early 
years,  on  small  country  charges  used  to  paying  from  $30  to  $100 
for  Missions,  he  raised  the  general  level  of  their  giving  to  double 
or  treble  that  amount,  although  the  years  showed  fluctuations 
from  this  new,  higher  level.  In  later,  larger  churches,  similar 
fluctuations  from  a  level  still  in  general  higher  than  that  reached 
by  his  immediate  predecessors,  might  be  in  amounts  between 
$100  and  $200.  A  drop  of  $100  in  a  single  year  in  a  city  church 
whose  level  of  missionary  giving  had  been  raised  from  an  average 
^f  $300  to  an  average  of  $600  would  not  push  the  average  annual 
increase  below  the  positive  rate,  but  it  would  cancel  numerically 
the  $20  to  $50  gains  of  several  of  the  earlier  years. 

For  this  reason,  while  there  is  the  difficulty,  shown  by  the  case 
of  Ind.  No.  10  with  a  long  pastorate  in  a  fast-growing  church,  that 
continuous  comparison  with  the  church's  feebler  years  is  not  fair, 
in  most  of  the  twenty-five  cases  the  ability  of  the  local  church  was 
a  sufficiently  constant  factor  to  make  the  basis  of  comparison  with 
the  year  preceding  each  pastor's  accession  more  just  than  either 
the  mere  fact  of  increase  or  decrease,  or  the  total  numerical  amount 
thereof.  It  may  be  worth  while  to  give  a  sample  of  the  record  of 
one  church  under  different  pastorates  (Fig.  4)  to  show  this  constancy. 

Here  observe  that  the  salary  varies  with  the  pastor  rather  than 
with  the  numerical  strength  of  church  membership;  that  the 
amount  paid  for  Missions  shows  general  trends,  within  fluctuating 
limits,  for  each  of  the  pastorates,  and  that  this  trend  is  not  a  co- 
variant  with  the  numerical  church  membership;  and  that  varia- 
tions  in    "missions"   and   "general   benevolences"   tend   in   general 


The  New  York  and  New  York  East  Conferences  33 

to  be  in  direct  rather  than  in  inverse  (compensating)  proportion 
to  each  other. 


Year 

Pastor 

Salary 

Members 

S.  S. 

Prop.  Val. 

Missions 

Be?tev. 

1902 

A. 

B. 

$4,100 

527 

305 

$91,000 

$436 

$1,058 

1903 

A. 

B. 

4,100 

524 

357 

91,000 

262 

1.537 

1904 

C. 

D. 

2,600 

574 

309 

9 1 ,000 

462 

1,102 

1905 

C. 

D. 

2,800 

603 

374 

91,000 

474 

1,351 

1906 

C. 

D. 

3,000 

626 

313 

91,000 

640 

1,664 

1907 

C. 

D. 

3,000 

588 

298 

90,000 

640 

2,050 

1908 

C. 

D. 

3,000 

542 

322 

90,000 

700 

r.633 

1909 

E. 

F. 

3,000 

548 

315 

90,000 

670 

1,796 

1910 

E. 

F. 

3,000 

608 

403 

90,000 

420 

1,722 

1911 

G. 

H. 

3,000 

552 

419 

90,000 

950 

1,863 

1912 

G. 

H. 

3,000 

422 

478 

90,000 

810 

2,078 

1913 

G. 

H. 

3,000 

409 

367 

90,000 

600 

2,741 

1914 

G. 

H. 

3,000 

377 

381 

94,000 

670 

14,933 

1915 

G. 

H. 

3,000 

409 

406 

94,000 

690 

1,556 

1916         I.J.  2,400  458  433  90,000  511  1,564 

Fig.  4.   Budget  for  Fifteen  Years  of  a  Typical  Medium  City  "First  Church" 

In  general,  the  comments  on  Part  4  of  Table  VI  are  the  same  as 
those  on  Part  3.  Perhaps  a  little  more  frequently  the  detailed 
figures  show  some  mighty  effort  for  an  unusual  sum  for  some  special 
object,  followed  by  a  drop  to  the  level,  or  a  trifle  below  that,  of 
the  preceding  year.  This  explains  the  still  wider  divergence  between 
the  signs  and  the  relative  size  of  amounts  and  percentages.  It 
also  shows  that  as  some  concrete,  nearer  call  may  rouse  a  congrega- 
tion to  special  efforts  in  giving,  with  or  without  reference  to  the 
efforts  and  purposes  of  the  pastor,  the  amount  paid  to  the  denomina- 
tion's constant  but  more  distant  responsibilities  via  the  Mission 
Boards  is,  as  one  might  expect  to  find,  more  dependent  upon  his 
plans  and  methods.  So,  while  both  figures  have  some  positive  relia- 
bility as  a  measure  of  individual  traits  of  successive  pastors,  the 
amounts  paid  to  the  Mission  Boards  are  a  more  reliable  index  than 
those  given  to  the  rest  of  the  church  benevolences. 

It  was  part  of  the  original  plan,  if  the  study  of  the  data  of  the 
Conference  Minutes  proved  fruitful  for  this  sampling  of  twenty- 
five  men,  to  carry  out  the  method  for  two  or  three  hundred,  or  as 


34  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

TABLE  VI.    PART  4 

Numerical  and  Percentage  Increase  or  Decrease  in  Contributions  to 
Other  Benevolences,  19  02-1916 

Column  A  Column  B  {Numerical 

Imlivid.              (i)                    (2)  (i)  (2)  Total 

Total               Av.  %  Total  Av.  %  A  and  B) 

Annual  Annual 

1  $       622                   .33  $-637  -37  $   -15 

2  -9935                 140  22768  1.85  12833 

3  400                   .09  —1666  .11  —1266 

4  1140        .70  1504  1.37  2644 

5  2149       .52  -2503  .09  -354 

6  1573        -66  -545  .18  1028 

7  63       3.67  447  3.27  510 

8  967        .04  2739  .49  3706 

9  1036       .40  536  .24  1572 

10  -45       .47  196  .58  151 

11  250      —-03  —296  —49  —46 

12  254       .46  462  .53  716 

13  -447      -.38  -34  -.32  -481 

14  12560       .60  — 12621  .15  —61 

15  —210       .12  —82  .27  —292 

16  511        .49  —301  .42  210 

17  117       .36  -563  .01  -446 

18  3       .52  145  .67  148 

19  286       .69  -233  .13  53 

20|         4418         1. 16  —4022  .29  396 

21            377          .02  -343  -.09  34 

22,         —500          .62  509  1.27  9 

23  160          .79  246  1.36  406 

24  30        -.22  -371  -.39  -341 

25  258          .37  -242  .15  16 


Total  $16037  .47  5  $5093  .27'  $21130 

'  Median,  not  total.  Median  of  two  halves  together,  between  +.37  and  +.40. 
Tabulating  deviations  from  +.40  as  the  central  tendency,  the  coefificient  of  reliability 
was  calculated  between  the  two  columns.         By  the  Pearson  formula,  r  =  +.43. 

many  as  had  been  in  the  conferences  a  certain  length  of  time.  In 
view  of  the  low  reliability  of  most  of  the  measures,  the  results  that 
could  thus  be  obtained  would  not  justify  the  large  amount  of  labor 
involved.  However,  it  did  seem  worth  while  to  use  the  best  of 
the  measures  for  correlation  with  the  estimated  abilities  of  these 
men,  as  a  suggestion  for  what  might  be  done  in  the  future,  when 
more  reliable  measures  are  available  for  some  considerable  body  of 
ministers. 


The  New  York  and  Nciv  York  East  Conferences  35 

Summary  of  Table  VI  Compared  with  Table  V.    Rell\bility  Coefficients 

Average  Annual  Increase  or  Decrease  Per  Cent         Plus  and 

Minus 

Church  Membership r  =   +.32         r  =   +.42 

Sunday  School  Membership r  =    —.42         r  —    —.04 

Contributions  to  Mission  Boards r  =   +.87         r  =    —.011 

Contributions  to  Other  Benevolences r  =   +.43         r  =   +.057 


4.   A  Study  of  the  Relation  of  Adjudged  Ability  to 
Recorded  Achievements 

Comparing  the  reliability  measures  obtained  by  the  two  methods 
and  bearing  in  mind  the  explanatory  comments  regarding  the 
significances  of  the  gross  annual  differences  in  money  contributions 
and  the  annual  average  percentages  thereof,  the  following  items 
were  chosen  for  correlation  with  the  four  traits  for  which  all  the 
men  had  been  judged: 


Increase  of  Contributions  to  Mission  Boards r  =  +.87 

Increase  of  Contributions  to  Benevolences r  =  +43 

Percentage  of  Increase  or  Decrease,  Church  Memberships      .    .  r  =  +.42 

Payment  of  Money  on  Church  Property  and  Improvements  r  =  +.69 

Increase  or  Decrease  of  Own  Salary r  =  +.09 


For  the  cross-correlations,  five  of  the  twenty-five  ministers 
studied  in  the  preceding  section  were  omitted  because  they  had 
been  rated  by  fewer  than  four  judges.  For  the  remaining  twenty 
the  usual  procedure  was  followed  for  finding  the  Pearson  coefficients 
for  the  paired  halves  of  each  two  sets  of  measures,  and  correcting 
for  attenuation  by  the  Spearman  formula.  Instead  of  attempting 
to  find  the  central  tendency  of  this  small  group  the  deviations  in 
the  four  traits  were  taken  from  the  median  3  because  the  sig- 
nificance of  these  measures  lay  in  the  man's  ability  relative  to  the 
general  conference  average.  For  the  same  reason  the  deviations 
in  the  five  achievements  were  taken  from  the  median  of  the  entire 
twenty-five  for  whom  the  records  had  been  tabulated.  Note  3 
gives  the  steps  of  the  computations.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that 
the  self-correlations  for  this  group  selected  from  five  of  the  six 
classes  are  higher  than  for  the  average  of  all  the  classes  in  those 
traits.  The  self-correlation  in  the  items  of  achievement  varies 
somewhat  but  is  in  general  higher  for  the  twenty  men  than  for  the 
twenty- five. 


36 


Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 


Table  VII  gives  the  relations  between  the  four  traits  judged  by 
their  associates  and  the  five  items  from  the  15  years'  annual  records. 


Note  3.    The  details  of   the  work  for  obtaining  Table   VII   are   as  follows: 
numbers  relate  to  the  4  traits). 

Cross-Correlations 


(The 


I  a  with  Missions  b +  -SS 

I  a  with  Benevolences  b  .    .    .    .  +  .25 

I  a  with  Church  Membership  a  .  +  .217 

I  a  with  Money  Improvements  b  —  .20 

I  a  with  Salary  h —  .22 

II  a  with  Missions  b +  .48 

II  a  with  Benevolences  b  .    .    .    .  +  .16 

II  a  with  Church  Membership  b  .  +  .49 

II  a  with  Money  Improvements  b  —  .02 

II  a  with  Salary +  .23 

III  a  with  Missions  b +  -52 

III  a  with  Benevolences  b  .    .    .    .  +  .28 

III  o  with  Church  Membership  b  .  +  .30 

III  o  with  Money  Improvements  b  —  .11 

III  a  with  Salary  b +.11 

IV  a  with  Missions  b +  .57 

IV  a  with  Benevolences  b  .    .    .    .  +  -21 

IV  a  with  Church  Membership  6    .  +.50 

IV  a  with  Money  Improvements  b  +  .18 

IV  a  with  Salary  b —  .01 


I  b  with  Missions  a +  -40 

I  b  with  Benevolences  a      .    .    .  +  .14 

I  b  with  Church  Membership  a  .  -\-  .36 

I  b  with  Money  Improvements  a  —  .03 

I  b  with  Salary  a +  .39 

II  b  with  Missions  a +  -37 

116  with  Benevolences  a  .  .  .  +  .16 
II  b  with  Church  Membership  a  .  +  .55 
II  6  with  Money  Improvements  a  —  .03 
116  with  Salary  a +  -13 

III  b  with  Missions  a +  .57 

III  6  with  Benevolences  a  .  .  .  -f  .07 
III  6  with  Church  Membership  a  .  +  .92 
III  6  with  Money  Improvements  a  —  .09 

III  b  with  Salary  a +  .24 

IV  b  with  Missions  a +  .21 

IV  b  with  Benevolences  a  .  .  .  +  .03 
IV  6  with  Church  Membership  a  .  +  .17 
IV  6  with  Money  Improvements  a  +  .14 
IV  b  with  Salary  a +  .32 


Self-Correlations 
Deviations  of  20  Men  from  General  Medians 

I  (Sermon  ability)  a  and  b +  -91 

II  (Pastoral  ability)  a  and  b +  .86 

III  (Executive  ability)  a  and  b +  .84 

IV  (Evangel,  abihty)  a  and  b      +  .73 

Missions  a  and  b +  .86 

Benevolences  a  and  b +.81 

Church  Membership  a  and  b +  .48 

Money  Improvements  a  and  b +  .53 

Salary  a  and  b +  .19 

The  reader  will  understand  the  abbreviations  used  in  the  tables 
hereafter. 

Missionary  means  average  annual  percentage  of  increase  or  decrease  of  contribu- 
tions to  the  Mission  Boards. 

Benevolences  means  average  annual  percentage  of  increase  or  decrease  of  contribu- 
tions to  all  other  benevolences. 


The  New  York  and  New  York  East  Conferences  37 

Church   Membership  means  average  annual   percentage  of  increase  or  decrease 

in  the  membership  of  the  churches  served. 
Money  Improvements  means  the  algebraic  total  of  "paid"  or  "not  paid"  on  church 

property  and  improvements,  regardless  of  amounts. 
Oivn  Salary  means  the  increase  or  decrease  of  a  man's  salary  over  his  own  of  each 

preceding  year,  regardless  of  amounts. 

TABLE  VII 

Correlation  of  Abilities  with  Achievements.     20  Conference  Men  for 

15  Years 

Sermon  ability  with  Missionary +  -54 

Sermon  ability  with  Benevolences      +  .22 

Sermon  ability  with  Church  Memberships +  .42 

Sermon  ability  with  Money  Improvements      —  .11 

Sermon  ability  with  Own  Salary +  .20 

Pastoral  ability  with  Missionary +  .49 

Pastoral  ability  with  Benevolences +  .19 

Pastoral  ability  with  Church  Memberships      +  .78 

Pastoral  ability  with  Money  Improvements —  .035 

Pastoral  ability  with  Own  Salary +  .42 

Executive  ability  with  Missionary +  .64 

Executive  ability  with  Benevolences +  -i? 

Executive  ability  with  Church  Memberships       +  -93 

Executive  ability  with  Money  Improvements      —  .15 

Executive  ability  with  Own  Salary +  .40 

Evangelistic  ability  with  Missionary +  .44 

Evangelistic  ability  with  Benevolences +  .14 

Evangelistic  ability  with  Church  Memberships +  .48 

Evangelistic  ability  with  Money  Improvements +  .14 

Evangelistic  ability  with  Own  Salary +  .48 

Bearing  in  mind  that  the  fewness  of  the  men  measured  and  the 
low  reliabiUty  of  the  measures  of  achievements  do  not  admit  any 
certain  deductions,  nevertheless  the  figures  as  they  stand  show 
interesting  trends. 

I.  The  church  which  desires  to  increase  its  membership  should 
seek  first  of  all  for  a  pastor  with  executive  ability,  and  next  with 
pastoral  ability.  It  is  evident  that  the  "ability  to  see  what  details 
are  necessary  to  make  a  project  successful,  to  adapt  them  to  chang- 
ing conditions,  to  see  that  they  are  carried  out  and  to  work  through 
others,"  and  the  pastor's  personal  interest  in  the  members  of  the 


38  Sjiccess  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

church  coniniuiiity  have  more  to  do  with  the  power  of  a  church 
to  attract  and  assimilate  new  material  than  has  the  public  appeal 
of  sermons  or  the  evangelistic  effort  to  overcome  hostility  and 
indifference. 

2.  The  probability  that  contributions  to  the  Alissionary  Boards 
would  depend  more  upon  the  efforts  of  the  minister  and  his  success 
in  making  sufficiently  gripping  the  distant  appeal  than  would  the 
more  concrete  objects  of  "other  benevolences"  is  borne  out.  The 
relationship  of  all  four  traits  with  missionary  achievement  (  +  .54, 
+  .49,  +-64,  +.44)  is  from  two  to  four  times  as  close  as  that  of 
these   traits  with   benevolent    contributions    (  +  .22,    +.19,    +.17, 

+  .14)- 

3.  The  popular  idea  that  there  is  no  particular  relationship 
between  preaching  fine  sermons  and  attending  to  the  material 
details  of  church  housekeeping,  or  that  they  "do  not  go  together," 
seems  to  be  borne  out  in  these  20  instances,  by  the  ratio  of  —.11. 
Strangely  enough  there  is  an  even  greater  negative  relation  between 
executive  ability  and  this  particular  achievement,  while  the 
only  positive  correlation  is  w^ith  evangelistic  ability.  These 
low  and  negative  correlations  combined  with  a  fairly  high  self- 
correlation  may  indicate  that  there  is  no  relation  between  this 
achievement  and  the  four  abilities  considered,  or  that  some  dis- 
turbing factor  is  at  w^ork  which  is  not  brought  out  in  the  printed 
records. 

4.  It  is  somewhat  startling  to  find  that  evangelistic  ability  has 
less  influence  on  increase  of  church  membership  than  any  of  the 
other  traits  except  sermon  ability.  Although  this  trait  has  no  stronger 
influence  than  that  on  church  membership,  yet  its  effect  on  the 
increase  of  the  pastor's  own  salary  is  exactly  the  same.  In  fact, 
if  a  minister  wished  deliberately  to  work  to  increase  his  salary, 
these  figures  indicate  that  the  surest  way  to  do  it  would  be  to  cul- 
tivate evangelistic  ability.  Fervor  and  enthusiasm  dispose  people 
favorably  toward  the  minister  who  displays  them. 

5.  The  close  correlation  of  amount  of  salary  with  ability  as  judged 
by  associates,  the  low  correlation  of  date  of  entrance  w^th  salary, 
and  the  slight  effect  of  length  of  service  on  salary  when  the  partial 
correlation  was  made  for  the  entire  212  men  without  separating 
into  groups  (see  Tables  III  and  IV)  point  in  the  same  general  direc- 
tion as  the  figures  in  Table  VII.  Here  the  record  of  each  man's 
salary  increase  for  15  years  correlates  with  his  various  abilities  in 


The  New  York  and  New  York  East  Conferences  39 

ratios  of  from  only  .20  to  .48,  while  the  self-correlation  of  salary 
increase  among  these  20  men  is  but  .19.  Whether  the  cause  be 
that  a  man  quickly  reaches  his  "level"  of  worth,  or  that  there  is  no 
elasticity  in  salary  possibilities  to  allow  for  growing  ability,  the 
fact  shows  plainly  from  the  study  both  of  the  group  of  20  and  of 
212  that  length  of  time  in  professional  service  has  in  general  no 
close  relation  to  salary  received. 

6.  The  chief  conclusion  is  that  the  types  of  achievements  re- 
corded in  the  printed  annual  reports  are  not  those  by  which  a 
minister's  "success"  is  to  be  most  certainly  judged.  Contributions 
to  the  great  missionary  enterprises  of  the  church  form  one  real 
measure,  for  the  reasons  already  detailed.  For  greater  reliability 
as  measures  of  anything  the  records  of  church  membership  need  a 
uniform  accuracy  in  annual  revision.  The  significance  of  the 
numbers  would  be  greatly  increased  if  they  were  accompanied  by 
figures  showing  such  facts  as  are  being  gathered  by  many  churches 
through  a  "community  survey,"  or  a  religious  census  of  the  local  field. 

The  statistics  of  Sunday  schools  proved  to  be  useless  as  measures 
of  anything  whatever,  yet  the  religious  nurture  of  children  and 
youth  is  one  of  the  most  important  functions  of  the  ministry. 
Careful  records  of  the  child  population  of  the  community  as  a 
guide  to  interpreting  the  numbers  in  attendance,  and  a  standard 
of  how  many  Sundays  constitute  a  child  an  "attendant"  would  be 
the  first  step.  Then  a  checking  up  with  such  standards  as  graded 
instruction  and  worship,  trained  teachers,  organized  activities, 
and  pupils  coming  into  church  membership  and  into  specific  service 
in  the  church  would  afford  measurable  information  about  more 
vital  elements  in  ministerial  success  than  do  the  money  value  of 
church  property  and  payments  for  material  improvements. 


PART  II 

A  STUDY  OF  GRADUATES   FROM   THREE  METHODIST 
EPISCOPAL  THEOLOGICAL  SCHOOLS 

I.   Introduction 

Direction  of  the  Inquiry.  What  sort  of  men  are  attracted  to 
the  work  of  the  Christian  ministry?  Within  what  hmits  do  indi- 
vidual variations  among  these  men  occur?  Do  they  show  any 
well-defined  tendencies?  Which  are  the  characteristics  favorable 
for  success?  How  far  may  the  possession  of  these  characteristics 
be  determined  before  or  during  the  period  of  training  for  the  min- 
istry?   These  are  problems  significant  for  vocational  guidance. 

Source  of  Material.  For  investigation  of  these  questions,  the 
data  were  chosen  as  follows:  For  comparison  with  the  foregoing 
studies  of  the  Methodist  ministry,  men  taking  their  training  in 
theological  schools  preparing  for  that  ministry  would  be  under 
the  operation  of  the  same  selective  tendencies  as  those  which  de- 
termine the  personalities  and  the  standards  of  the  Methodist 
ministry  as  a  whole.  Hence  this  study  is  limited  to  gi'aduates  from 
the  three  largest  Methodist  theological  schools,  Boston  LIniversity 
School  of  Theology,  Drew  Theological-  Seminary,  and  Garrett 
Biblical  Institute. 

In  order  to  have,  a  number  large  enough  for  reliability  without 
being  unwieldy,  the  study  was  limited  to  the  graduates  of  one  decade. 
And  in  order  that  all  the  men  should  have  had  somewhat  nearly 
the  same  opportunity  for  service  after  graduation,  to  compare 
the  records  of  the  later  graduates  with  the  earlier  ones,  the  end 
of  the  decade  was  placed  five  years  before  the  beginning  of  the 
study. 

Thus  the  basis  of  this  portion  of  the  present  inquiry  is  the  char- 
acteristics and  achievements  of  the  men  graduating  from  Boston 
University  School  of  Theology,  Garrett  Biblical  Institute  and  Drew 
Theological  Seminary,  during  the  years  1902-1911,  inclusive. 

Extent  of  the  Material.  For  those  graduates  the  objective  data 
available  consist  of  the  ofiice  records  of  the  grades  reached  in  their 
theological  studies,  and  the  records  in  Annual  Conference  Minutes 


Consider  now  your  ahility  at  eath  of  the  ten  activities  when  you  were  8-14.  Mark  in  column  2  with 
a  1,  the  activity  at  which  your  ability  was  greatest — that  is,  the  one  that  you  did  best  at,  or  think  you 
would  have  done  best  at  if  you  had  had  a  chance  to  try  it.  Mark  with  a  i  the  activity  at  which  your  abil- 
ity was  next  greatest — that  is,  the  one  that  you  did  next  best  at,  or  think  you  would  have  done  next  best  at 
if  you  had  a  chance  to  try.  Mark  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  10  for  the  others  according  to  your  memory  of  what 
your  abilities  were.  If  your  abilities  in  two  or  more  were,  in  so  far  as  you  can  judge,  equal,  give  them  the 
same  mark. 

Record  similarly  under  column  4  your  order  of  ability  in  these  ten  activities  when  you  were  14-18. 

Record  similarly  under  column  6  your  ability  in  each  of  these  ten  activities  when  you  were  18-25. 

Record  similarly  under  column  8  your  order  of  ability  in  these  ten  activities  at  the  present  time. 


Read  everything  as  far  as  Table  II  before  filling  out  Table  II,     Read  again  and  fill  out  Table  III. 

Let  the  value  to  your  subsequent  life  and  activities  of  a  class-room  hour  of  a  fundamental  English 
course  be  a  unit  of  measure,  and  call  it  10.  Estimate  the  comparative  value  (whether  *'  practical "  or 
**  inspirational ")  in  your  ministerial  life  of  each  course  taken  in  your  college  work,  by  a  number  in  the 
blank  space  following  the  appropriate  heading;  thus:  if  a  class-room  hour  of  Greek  has  had  the  same  value 
as  an  hour  of  English,  mark  it  10;  if  twice  as  valuable,  20;  if  less  valuable,  9  or  less.  If  any  course  had  no 
value  to  your  life  and  work  as  a  Christian  minister,  mark  it  zero.     Place  no  mark  after  courses  not  taken. 

In  the  same  manner,  mark  the  studies  of  your  theological  course  with  numbers  indicating  their  value 
as  compared  with  the  same  unit  "  10,"  as  in  Table  II. 


TABLE  II. 


T.\BLE  III. 


Name  ol  College 
or  Uni,erM.y- 

Year  o( 

Gradual 

on 

English 

Analysis  and  composition 

..10.. 

Languages.  . 

Greek 

History  .... 

Mathematics 

Pure     

Science 

PniLOSOPHY*. 

Ethics* 

Educational 

g 

Social  Theory 

Voice 

AND  Ear  

lame  ol  Theological 


English 

Languages . . 

Greek 

History 

Exegesis 

Greek             

English 

Doctrine  . . . 

Practical 
Theology  . . . 

Denominational  Polity  and  Ad- 

Comparative 
Religions  . . . 

Relation  to  Missions 

Social 
Science*  .... 

Social  Theory 

Social  Problems  and  Laboratory 

Religious 
Education*.. 

Educational  Problems  and  Lab- 

Voice 

and  Ear 

•  the  number. 


in    the   Tlieological   Sclio 


Name Date  of  Birth. 

Height  (with  shoes) Weight  (with  ordinary  clothing) 

Childhood  environment:  City Village Country. 

Struggle Comfort Ease. 

Special  opportunities  (specify) 


Special  responsibilities  (specify) 


Read  everything  as  far  as  Table  I  liefore  filling  out  any  part  of  Table  I.  Then  read  again  as  you 
need,  to  fill  out  columns  I,  3,  5,  and  7. 

Consider  your  interest  in  or  liking  for  each  of  the  activities  listed  below  during  your  early  boyhood, 
8-14  years.  Mark  in  column  1  i\-ith  a  1  the  activity  that  was  at  that  period  most  interesting  to  you  of  the 
ten  listed.  Mark  with  a  i  the  one  that  was  next  most  interesting;  mark  with  a  3  the  one  that  was  next  in 
interest,  and  so  on.  If  two  or  more  were,  so  far  as  you  can  judge,  equally  interesting,  give  them  the  same 
mark.  If  any  had  no  interest,  you  were  indifferent  to  it,  precede  the  figure  with  a  zero;  if  it  was  distaste- 
ful, with  a  minus  sign  (as  07,  -8,  -9,  -10). 

Record  similarly  under  column  3  the  order  of  interest  of  these  ten  activities  when  you  were  14-18  years  old. 

Record  similarly  under  colunm  5  the  order  of  interest  of  these  ten  activities  when  you  were  18-25  years  old. 

Record  similarly  under  column  7  the  order  of  interest  of  these  ten  activities  for  you  now. 

Record  nothing  under  columns  2,  4,  6,  and  8  until  columns  1,  3,  5,  and  7  are  filled. 

By  Bargaining  is  meant  swapping,  trading,  buying  as  cheap  as  possible,  selling  as  dearly  as  possible, 
and  the  hke. 

By  Managing  people  is  meant  bossing  others,  giving  orders,  deciding  which  person  shall  do  each  part  of 
a  game  or  task,  persuading  people  to  do  certain  things,  getting  people  to  agree,  and  the  like. 

By  Studying  with  boohs  is  meant  studying  but  not  experimenting  in  a  laboratory  or  learning  to  use 
machines  or  obser\dng  facts  in  nature.  , 

By  Experimenting  is  meant  doing  experiments  in  laboratories,  copying  or  following  directions  for  elec- 
trical and  mechanical  toys,  tricks  or  useful  contrivances,  trying  and  adapting  directions  for  treatment  of 
soil,  seeds,  live  stock,  and  the  like. 

By  Planning  and  inventing  is  meant  drawing  and  making  original  models  of  boats,  engines,  and  the  hke, 
devising  useful  contrivances  about  the  house  or  shop,  or  devising  new  methods  of  doing  things,  but  not 
routine  work,  or  that  planned  and  directed  by  others. 

By  Observing  facts  in  nature  is  meant  learning  the  size,  shape,  color,  habits,  names,  or  other  character- 
istics of  wild  and  domestic  birds  and  animals,  trees,  plants,  or  physiographic  or  geologic  formations. 

By  Clerical  work  is  meant  such  work  as  arranging  cards,  comparing  names  or  numbers,  classifying 
written  facts  of  name,  number,  date,  address,  and  the  like. 

By  Mechanical  work  is  meant  carpentering,  blacksmithing,  cleaning  tools  or  machines,  and  the  like. 

By  Farm  work  is  meant  chopping,  hoeing,  ploughing,  digging,  moving  stones,  planting,  and  cate  of 
poultry,  animals,  feeding,  harnessing  and  driving  horses,  and  the  like. 

By  Athletics  and  organized  games  is  meant  participation  in  school  or  local  field  sports,  team  games, 
swimming,  rowing,  skating,  and  the  like. 

If  at  any  of  the  four  periods  you  had  no  chance  to  tell  how  great  your  interest  was  in  an  activity,  judge 
as  best  you  can  how  great  your  interest  would  have  been  if  you  had  had  a  chance  to  engage  in  the  activity. 

TABLE  I. 


1             i             2 
8-14 

3             1             4 
14-18 

5            1             6 
18-25 

7            1          8 
Present 

lotercrt 

AbiUlT 

intcrett 

AbilitT 

Abiliir 

Interest 

Ability 

Bargaining 



Athletics  and  organized  games , .  1 



1 1 

A  Study  of  Theological  School  Graduates  41 

of  their  appointments  held  since  graduation,  with  the  uniform 
statistics  of  those  charges.  For  those  whose  names  no  longer  appear 
in  the  General  Minutes  of  the  denomination,  the  fact  of  their  having 
left  the  ministry,  and  the  causes  therefor  when  ascertainable,  were 
held  to  be  of  vocational  significance. 

To  secure  more  individual  and  personal  records,  a  copy  of  the 
accompanying  questionnaire,  with  a  letter  explaining  the  purpose 
of  the  study,  was  sent  to  every  accessible  graduate. 

The  total  number  of  graduates  of  the  three  schools  for  these 
ten  years,  as  shown  by  the  official  records  of  degrees  or  diplomas 
conferred,  was  1204.  Of  these  35  had  died.  For  135  no  address 
or  incomplete  addresses  could  be  found,  59  others  were  then  re- 
siding in  foreign  countries,  and  on  account  of  the  difficulties  of 
mail  service  in  war  time,  no  letters  were  sent  to  them.  Hence  the 
total  number  of  questionnaires  sent  was  975.  Replies  with  answers 
were  received  from  310,  replies  stating  unwillingness  or  inability 
to  answer  the  questions  from  13,  and  letters  were  returned  un- 
claimed from  the  given  address  for  23.  The  310  questionnaires 
returned  more  or  less  completely  filled  out  thus  give  personal  data 
concerning  26  per  cent,  of  the  entire  1 199  men,  and  represent  almost 
one  third  of  those  presumably  receiving  requests. 

All  three  of  the  schools  included  in  this  study  now  have  a  careful 
system  of  permanent  records  of  all  the  grades  of  all  the  students, 
put  into  effect  during  or  since  the  period  under  consideration;  but 
only  Boston  had  complete  records  of  numerical  grades  for  all  the 
graduates  for  all  ten  years.  In  the  other  two  schools,  changing 
policies  of  grading,  including,  variously,  percentages,  a  scale  re- 
corded in  percentages  but  apparently  reaching  from  90  to  100  in 
tenths  of  one  per  cent,  "A,  B,  C,  D,  and  F,"  "Excellent,  Very  Good, 
Good,  Poor,"  and  a  simple  "Passed  or  Failed,"  were  in  effect  suc- 
cessively or  simultaneously.  In  Drew,  for  the  members  of  the 
classes  of  1902  and  most  of  1903,  no  records  of  grades  have  been 
preserved.  In  the  ledger  of  those  years  were  two  or  three  blank 
forms  showing  that  it  had  been  the  custom  to  give  each  student 
a  statement  of  his  grades  each  term. 

Scope  and  Limitations.  So  much  for  a  preliminary  statement  of 
the  data  at  hand.  "What  are  the  standards  and  tests  of  'success' 
in  the  Christian  ministry?  What  factors  of  success  are  ineasurable, 
and  by  what  scale?"  These  are  the  queries  that  seemed  uppermost 
in  the  minds  of  the  ministers  questioned,  and  the  reason  assigned 


42  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

for  soinc  of  the  refusals  to  reply  was  a  general  C()n\'iction  that  no 
just  standard  of  "success"  exists,  and  that  the  factors  of  "person- 
ality" are  unanalyzable. 

To  quote  one  letter:  "I  am  a  little  perplexed,  also,  to  understand 
just  what  your  questionnaire  will  discover.  My  observation  is 
that  the  three  things  which  most  often  explain  success  in  the  min- 
istry are,  (i)  spiritual-mindedness,  (2)  personality,  including  (a) 
sympathy,  {b)  common  sense,  and  {c)  any  pleasing  peculiarity, 
and  (3)  egoistic  ambition.  I  find  none  of  these  things  indicated 
in  your  list. 

"I  am  wondering,  moreover,  what  is  to  be  your  criterion  of  suc- 
cess. If  'grade'  or  rank  with  respect  to  denominational  prominence 
I  should  be  a  little  suspicious  of  the  utility  of  such  an  inquiry." 

Criteria:  Premises  and  Working  Basis.  One  measure  of  success, 
capable  of  statistical  handling,  is  the  amount  of  salary  received. 
This  at  once  meets  a  storm  of  protest.  The  gist  of  these  protests 
may  be  summed  up  as  follows: 

"Men  worthy  of  the  Christian  ministry  are  not  working  for 
money ;  the  man  with  greater  egotism  may  secure  the  greater  salary, 
while  the  one  more  successful  in  the  real,  spiritual  aims  of  the 
ministry  modestly  goes  on  from  one  needy  field  to  another,  regard- 
less of  financial  advancement." 

"In  any  given  conference  the  number  of  charges  and  the  salaries 
paid  by  each  remain  practically  stationar}^  When  in  the  itinerary 
system  a  minister  is  to  be  moved,  he  is  not  ordinarily  demoted 
in  salary,  and  unless  the  incumbent  of  a  higher-salaried  pastorate 
dies  or  is  transferred  to  another  conference,  he  cannot  be  promoted; 
so  there  is  no  alternative  but  to  move  a  series  of  men  receiving 
approximately  the  same  salary  to  another  charge  of  the  same 
'grade. '^  Where  for  reasons  of  local  expediency  a  man  is  trans- 
ferred from  one  conference  to  another,  after  the  general  shift  one 
extra  man  is  left  standing  like  the  lone  player  in  'Going  to  Jeru- 
salem,' and  if  he  is  not  to  retire  from  the  game  he  must  in  turn  be 
transferred  to  some  other  conference." 

"Those  conferences  in  which  a  dearth  of  ministers  occurs  are 
in  general  those  where  the  appointments  offer  the  greatest  hard- 
ships and  the  least  salary.    The  ministers  who  go  to  these  needy 

1  One  Conference  statistician  has  preserved  tables  showing  for  a  series  of  twenty-five 
years  the  actual  groupings  of  charges  by  salary  "grades"  within  which  similarly  "graded" 
ministers  were  moved  about. 


A  Study  of  Theological  School  Graduates  43 

fields  must  be  those  of  high  spiritual  quaUfications;  but  however 
great  their  real  'success,'  the  causes  above  enumerated  act  auto- 
matically to  prevent  recognition  of  growth  in  power  and  achieve- 
ment by  increase  in  salary." 

All  this  is  absolutely  and  undeniably  true.  But  a  statement  of 
the  problem  in  relative  numerical  terms  shows  that,  nevertheless, 
"amount  of  salary  received"  is  one  of  the  indications  of  success. 
The  higher  salaries  are  in  general  paid  by  the  churches  larger  in 
membership  and  hence  in  their  actual  or  potential  "sphere  of  use- 
fulness." The  personnel  of  the  ministry  is  changing  decade  by 
decade,  and,  at  a  rate  perhaps  increased  by  the  itinerancy  habit, 
these  larger  churches  are  ever  seeking  the  stronger  men  among 
the  new  material.  Of  this  new  material,  namely,  the  men  "joining 
conference"  year  by  year,  only  a  fraction  are  trained  in  theological 
schools.  If  the  proportion  receiving  the  larger  salaries  is  demonstra- 
bly larger  among  these  men  than  among  the  total  membership  of 
the  conferences,  then  one  or  both  of  two  factors  are  operating. 
The  theological  training  is  itself  a  factor  in  achieving  the  larger 
salary  standard,  or  the  men  who  seek  such  training  are  those  whose 
individual  endowment  tends  to  bring  them  such  success.  If  the 
proportion  of  higher-salaried  men  is  the  same  among  theological 
graduates  as  among  the  ministry  in  general,  an  analysis  of  the 
differences  in  the  individual  traits  of  the  theological  graduates 
holding  the  highest  and  those  holding  the  lowest  salaried  positions 
may  reveal  those  factors  which  apart  from  special  training  con- 
tribute to  "success."  So  in  any  case,  "salary  received"  has  a  scien- 
tific value  as  one  measure  of  "success  in  the  Christian  ministry." 

Another  common  measure  of  success  is  "prominence."  Certain 
conference  and  denominational  positions  bring  their  incumbents 
before  a  wide  public,  denominational  and  general.  These  committee 
chairmanships,  executive  secretaryships,  editorships,  and  professor- 
ships are  in  a  wider  or  narrower  sense  elective,  and  selection  to  such 
offices  and  continuance  therein  implies  "success"  in  the  same  sense  as 
similar  honors  and  recognitions  in  other  professions.  The  number 
of  theological  graduates  elected  to  these  positions  is  capable  of 
statistical  handling. 

These  two  ascertainable  facts,  comparative  salary  and  compar- 
ative prominence,  may  therefore  be  taken  as  crude  criteria  of  "success." 

Personal  and  Environmental  Factors  Measured.  What  factors 
making  up  the  individual's  equipment  for  life  are  both  significant 


44  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

and  measurable?  Among  such  objectively  reportable  individual 
differences  are  physical  make-up,  conditions  of  early  environment 
and  experience,  native  interest  and  abilities,  and  the  intellectual 
differences  shown  by  definite  reactions  to  identical,  or  sufficiently 
similar  stimuli, ^ — -such  as  examinations  or  questionnaires. 

As  to  physical  make-up,  the  studies  of  Gowin,  Folsom,  and  others 
have  shown  a  definite  relationship  between  the  size  and  vitality  of 
the  bodily  machine  and  the  kind  and  quantity  of  achievement. 
Time  is  a  factor  in  determining  the  individual  norm  both  in  physical 
development  and  in  the  amount  of  experience  and  achievement; 
hence  the  questionnaires  asked  for  the  date  of  birth,  and  the  present 
height  and  weight.  Early  environment  and  experience  are  factors  in 
sympathetic  ability  to  handle  men,  and  in  ambitions  and  ideals. 
The  outstanding  classification  of  such  environment  is,  socially  and 
physically,  into  "country,"  "village,"  or  "city,"  and  economically 
into  "struggle,"  "comfort,"  or  "ease."  That  these  divisions  were 
sufficiently  explicit  in  content  seems  clear  from  comments  when 
such  were  added. 

Thus  far  the  answers  received  were  practically  complete.  With 
the  data  for  "individual  interests  and  abilities,"  difficulties  appeared. 
In  selecting  and  describing  traits  for  ranking,  one  could  not  expect 
ministerial  patience  and  effort  to  cover  more  than  ten,  and  omissions 
were  bound  to  occur.  "The  things  I  was  interested  in  seem  largely 
omitted  from  your  list,"  says  one  reply.  "Bargaining"  was  perhaps 
an  unfortunate  caption  for  the  trait  described,  as  the  replies  indicate 
a  common  connotation  in  the  clerical  mind  with  "hard"  or  "sharp" 
bargaining,  unfair  advantage,  sordidness,  rather  than  the  "economic 
sense"  or  "business  acumen"  acknowledged  by  some  of  those  who 
noted  "strong  repugnance"  to  this  trait  as  they  understood  it.  On 
the  whole,  however,  responses  indicate  that  the  ten  traits  chosen 
are  common,  intelligible,  and  sufficiently  distinctive  to  indicate 
real  personal  differences  in  original  interests  and  abilities. 

Then  there  is  the  double  difficulty  that  the  order  of  interest  and 
ability  at  the  different  periods  required  subjective  judgments,  based 
on  memory.  There  were  several  protests  at  the  "difficulty  of  self- 
analysis,"  and  the  "unreliability  of  memory — it  must  be  mere  guess- 
work." Ministers  have  not  been  trained  to  the  use  of  mental  and 
social  measurements  and  two  misapprehensions  appeared  fre- 
quently: that  a  judgment  was  of  no  value  unless  accompanied  by  a 
high  feeling  of  certainty,  and  that  what  was  desired  was  absolute  in- 


A  Study  of  Theological  School  Graduates  45 

terest  or  ability  instead  of  the  relative  order  requested  as  distinctly  as 
possible.  Many  modestly  disclaimed  "first-rate  ability"  in  anything, 
others  ranged  all  ten  traits  under  only  three  or  four  figures  of  the 
scale,  some  used  many  blanks  and  zeros,  and  some  frankly  "gave  up 
the  puzzle."  Hence  of  the  310  replies  received,  but  103  clearly  and 
unequivocally  arranged  the  eight  columns  in  Table  I  of  the  ques- 
tionnaire in  order  of  merit. 

Training  Factors  Measured.  There  was  a  far  more  spontaneous 
interest  in  the  relative  value  of  the  subjects  of  their  professional 
training,  as  shown  both  by  the  judgments  recorded  in  Tables  II  and 
III  of  the  answered  questionnaires  and  by  the  supplementary 
comments  and  letters.  Here  again  individuals  (though  fewer  of  them) 
were  troubled  by  the  unreliability  of  memory.  More  desired  some 
means  of  equating  separately  the  values  of  the  subjects  of  the 
curriculum  and  the  personalities  by  whom  they  were  taught.  Some 
of  the  constructive  comments  will  be  quoted  in  place.  The  number 
and  completeness  of  the  judgments  on  the  vocational  value  of 
college  and  theological  curriculum  subjects  is  sufficient  for  deductions 
of  value. 

2.   A  Study  of  the  Official  Records 

[An  analysis  of  the  data  obtained  concerning  the  graduates  from 
Boston  University  School  of  Theology,  Drew  Theological  Semi- 
nary, and  Garrett  Biblical  Institute  for  the  decade,  1902-1911.^] 

SUMMARY  OF  DATA  OBTAINED 

The  scope  of  the  material  stands  out  more  clearly  when  the 
figures  from  the  three  schools  are  arranged  in  parallel  columns.  In 
Tables  VIII  and  IX  a  fourth  column  shows  the  total  for  all  three 
schools  under  each  item. 

^  Except  to  three  Boston  graduates  working  in  Mexico,  and  one  Drew  graduate  in 
Cuba,  no  letters  were  sent  to  graduates  residing  in  foreign  countries.  This  omission  was 
on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  mail  service  in  war  time.  One  Garrett  missionary,  home 
on  iurlough,  received  and  filled  out  a  questionnaire. 


46 


Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 


TABLE  VIII 

Numerical  Summary  of  Questionnaires  Sent  and  Replies  Received 

Boston  Drew  Garrett  Total 

Graduates  (official  records)      .    .    .              393  468  343  1204 

Deceased 12  11  12  35 

In  Foreign  Countries '^ (18)      15  25  (20)      19  (63)       59 

Supernumerary  and  Retired    .    .    .    (19)      13  (11)      10  (17)        4  (47)       27 

VVitlidrawn  from  Conference   .    .    .    (10)        9  7  (6)        4  (23)      20 

Others,  address  not  found   ....                26  36  26  88 

Letters  not  sent 75  89  65  229 

Letters  Sent 318  379  278  975 

Letters  Returned  Unclaimed  ...                  9  7  6  22 

Replies  with  Answers 122  92  96  310 

Replies  Refusing  Answers   ....                 7  4  2  13 


The  replies  received  were  classified  as  to  completeness  as  follows : 

Class      I,  all  tables  in  figures      .    . 
Class    II,  all  tables  partly  figures 
Class  III,  only  part  of  tables  .    .    . 


42 

34 

27 

103 

47 

34 

41 

122 

33 

24 

28 

85 

122 

92 

96 

310 

'See  note,  p.  45. 


A  Study  of  Theological  School  Graduates 


TABLE  IX 
Occupations  of  Theological  School  Graduates,  Status  of  191 7 


Boston 
Graduates  of   1902-11   living 
in  1916-17  

A.  In  Academic  Positions    .     (32- 
Foreign  Schools      .... 
Teaching    when     Died    or 

Last  Heard  from    ...  4 

B.  In  Executive  Positions  .     (11-2) 
Denominational  and  Inter- 
denominational Boards 

City  Mission  and  Church 

Philanthropies 

F'ield    Agent,    Hospital    or 

Child  Care      

Anti-Saloon  League  .    .    . 

Y.  Ai.  C.  A 

Foreign  Diplomatic  .    .    . 
Conference  Field  Sec'y-    • 

C.  Editor'al 

D.  Not  in  Active  Ministry 
Laymen  and  Women  .  . 
Supernumerary      .... 

Located   

Retired 

Discontinued  or  Withdrawn 
Not    in    General    Minutes, 

1917 

Total  not  Preaching      .    .    . 
Foreign  Other  than  Teaching 
Pastors    and    Dist.    Sup'ts., 

U.  S.  A.3 281 


Dreiv 


Garrett 


Total 


381 

457        331 

1 163 

I)   31 

(29-1)   28  (16-1)   15 

74 

4 

3         5 

12 

19 


37 


4 

7 

0 

II 

2 

2 

I 

5 

I 

I 

I 

3 

I 

I 

I 

3 

I 

2 

0 

3 

0 

4 

3 

7 

0 

I 

0 

I 

0 

I 

_3 

_4 

0 

3 

3 

0 

0 

3 

46 

45 

58 

149 

0 

2 

8 

10 

II 

7 

14 

32 

I 

2 

4 

7 

7 

4 

3 

14 

10 

7 

6 

23 

\7 

23 

23 

63 

86 

95 

82 

263 

14 

22 

15 

51 

450 


234 


965 


'  (Including) 
Congregational 
Evangelical 
Lutheran      .    . 
M.  E.  Canada 
M.  E.  South    . 
Presbyterian    . 
Protestant  Episcopal 
United  Evangelical 
Wesleyan  (England) 


3 

3 

6 

12 

0 

I 

0 

I 

0 

0 

I 

I 

I 

0 

2 

3 

I 

6 

I 

8 

I 

3 

7 

II 

0 

4 

I 

S 

0 

2 

0 

2 

0 

I 

0 

I 

18 


44 


Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 


GRADES  IN  THEOLOGICAL  SCHOOLS 


Access  to  this  confidential  material  was  most  courteously  granted 
by  all  three  schools,  and  every  facility  provided  for  copying  the 
records  in  existence  for  the  years  included  in  this  study.  Boston 
University  School  of  Theology  alone  among  them  has  preserved 
complete  records  of  the  grades  accorded  all  students  in  all  of  the 
subjects  taught  during  the  entire  ten  years  considered.  The  officials 
of  the  other  schools  deprecated  the  fact  that  the  value  of  such  rec- 
ords had  not  at  that  time  been  sufficiently  perceived  by  educators 
in  general  to  insure  their  preservation.  Provision  is  now  made  for 
such  permanent  records.  If  the  use  here  made  of  both  records  and 
omissions  shall  be  of  any  assistance  to  these  and  other  educators  in 
standardizing  present  records  for  future  use,  it  will  be,  perhaps, 
some  slight  return  for  the  present  investigator's  indebtedness  for 
the  cordial  help  received. 

Boston  University  School  of  Theology.  The  system  in  use  during 
the  decade  and  continuing  to  the  present  (191 8)  is  a  percentage 
marking,  "passing"  at  70.  To  determine  the  reliability  of  these 
marks  as  criteria  of  the  relative  ability  of  the  individual  students, 
all  of  the  marks  of  the  392  individual  students  for  whom  records 
were  obtained  were  arranged  in  "random  halves"  irrespective  of 
variations  in  elective  subjects.  In  some  few  cases  of  students 
bringing  credits  from  other  theological  schools  for  two  or  more 
years  of  graduate  work  (three  full  years  subsequent  to  the  Bache- 
lor's degree  are  required  for  graduation),  the  marks  are  as  few  as 
8  or  10.  But  in  general,  varying  with  the  three-term  or  two-semester 
report  system,  the  total  number  of  grades  recorded  for  each  student 
was  from  24  to  42. 

In  each  half  the  median  grade  was  taken  as  the  central  tendency. 
In  fact,  it  most  often  corresponded  with  the  mode.  The  close  cor- 
respondence between  the  two  halves  of  each  man's  markings,  both 
in  range  of  variation  and  in  central  tendency,  was  so  evident  from 
inspection  that  it  seemed  unnecessary  to  calculate  the  reliability 
correlation  before  using  the  figures  as  measures. 

It  was  easy  to  find  by  inspection  also  the  central  tendency 
(median)  of  all  the  grades  of  each  individual.  These  individual 
medians  were  used  in  determining  the  relative  standing  of  each 
man  among  the  whole  number  of  graduates  of  the  ten  years.  The 
distribution  of  these  individual  medians  is  given  in  Table  X.    The 


A^Study  of  Theological  School  Graduates  49 

same  facts  are  shown  graphically  in  Fig.  5,  in  which  the  markedly 
skew  curve  emphasizes  what  the  figures  show,  namely : 

(o)  A  tendency  on  the  part  of  those  giving  the  grades  to  con- 
strict the  range  of  dift'erentiation  between  the  performances  of 
different  students.  A  range  of  30  steps  above  passing  is  allowed 
by  the  scale.  Of  these  the  individual  medians  cover  24,  but  60 
per  cent  of  their  entire  number  are  within  5  steps  of  this  scale 
(88-92  per  cent). 

{b)  A  tendency  to  over-high  estimation.  While  the  median  of 
the  individual  medians  falls  upon  the  mode  (90  per  cent),  that 
median  is  distant  from  the  lower  end  of  the  scale  15  of  the  entire 
24  steps  (19  steps  from  the  passing  limit)  and  requires  74  of  the  97 
marks  on  the  i6th  step  to  reach  the  middle  point.  The  upper  half 
of  the  total  covers  but  7  steps  beyond  the  mode  (and  includes  but 
a  quarter  of  the  numbers  falling  on  the  mode),  and  those  steps  are 
within  two  of  the  perfection  limit. 

TABLE  X 
Distribution  of  Individual  Medians.    Boston  University  Grades 
Median  Per  Cent  Number  of  Individuals 

75  I 

76  o 

77  o 

78  2 

79  I 

80  6 

81  5 

82  7 

83  5 

84  3 

85  18 

86  13 

_87  21        Jl 

88  20 

89  24 

90  97 

91  52 

_92  44    237 

93  22 

94  21 

95  20 

96  8 

97  4 

98  2 

99  o 

100  o    77 

392    392 


50 


Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 


The  result  of  these  tendencies,  as  they  affect  this  study,  is  to 
place  the  graduates  on  a  dead  level  of  high  efficiency  in  acquiring 
the  subject  matter  of  theological  training.  This  renders  difficult 
a   suitable   differentiation    for   comparison    with    their   subsequent 


r? 

76 

77  78 

79 

80 

8183 

83 

84 

85 

% 

^ 

88 

@9afi.5i 

i*. 

93 

94. 

n 

^6 

57 

98 

\ 

N 

"""' 

'""" 

— —' 

■■*"" 

"""' 

""~ 

""■■ 

"■"■ 

"■"* 

"~ 

1 

■ 

I— 

"^ 

t 

« 

0 

■)PT 

fi 

'fit 

\ 

2C 

P 

jr 

oei 

it^ 

1 

' 

^ 

■ 

1 

1 

■u 

1 

0 

0 

2 

^ 

s 

5 

7 

5 

3 

18 

13 

1? 

20 

.62 

24 

97  5344 

22 

21 

20 

8 

\^ 

2 

Fig.  5.    Curve  Showing  Distribution  of  IndividuaJ   Medians,  Boston  Uni- 
versity School  oi  Theology  Grades.    1902-1911 


achievements.  The  quartiles  run  so  close  to  the  central  tendency 
that  the  highest  and  lowest  quintiles,  as  indicated  in  the  table, 
have  been  used,  instead,  for  comparison  and  contrast. 

Drew  Theological  Seminary.  No  records  were  preserved  of  the 
grades  received  by  the  class  of  1902.  Records  are  also  missing  for 
most  of  the  class  of  1903,  and  for  an  occasional  individual  in  other 
years.  The  number  of  grades,  and  the  proportion  in  letters  and  in 
figures,  varied  greatly  between   individual  entries,  even   in   those 


A  Study  of  Theological  School  Graduates  51 

of  the  same  page  of  the  ledger.  Three  random  samples  of  individual 
records  show  the  difficulty  of  devising  methods  for  finding  a  just 
figure  to  represent  a  man's  relative  position  in  scholarship.   (Fig.  6.) 

Median 


90.9 


Heb. 

Gr. 

Syst. 

Bib. 

Prax. 

N.  T. 

Hist. 

Pract. 

0.  7 

{0.  T.) 

{N.  T.) 

Theo. 

Geog. 

Pub. 

sp. 

Int.  Of 
Lit. 

Theol. 

Theol. 

Int. 
Lit. 

X 

V.  G. 

E. 

84.8 

98 

93 

96 

94 

96 

'05 

E. 
Not  P. 

E. 

95 
92.2 

96 
E. 

E. 

Y 

E. 

95 

97 

98 

100 

97 

E. 

100 

'08 

E. 

97.6 
97.2 

100 

94 

E. 
E. 

E. 

Z 

V.  G. 

G. 

89 

90 

G. 

89 

88 

E. 

85 

•09 

91 

Fig. 

92 
6 

87 

V.  G. 

96.8 


For  "random  halves"  an  arbitrary  dividing  point  had  to  be  se- 
lected, anew  with  every  differently  arranged  page.  As  far  as  possible 
this  dividing  point  equalized  the  high-mark  and  low-mark  subjects, 
although  some  individuals  might  have  all  high  marks  in  one  half 
rnd  all  low  in  the  other,  or  have  many  more  marks  in  one  column 
than  in  the  other. 

When  grades  were  given  in  figures  they  were  frequently  carried 
out  to  tenths  per  cent.  One  man's  grade  might  be  94.3,  another's 
94.4  in  the  same  subject;  and  in  the  face  of  such  scrupulous  care 
one  felt  diffident  about  attempting  to  assign  values  to  letters! 
Fortunately  in  some  of  the  subjects  both  letters  and  figures  had 
been  used  in  the  same  term.  With  due  regard  to  this  clue,  and  to 
the  general  range  in  the  figures,  the  letters  were  assigned  the  fol- 
lowing values:  G,  85;  VG,  90;  E  or  Ex.,  95.  As  the  proportion  of 
letters  to  figures  was  pretty  even,  the  effect  on  individual  grades 
was  fairly  constant. 

The  average  of  the  grades  in  each  column  of  the  random  halves 
corresponded  closely  enough  with  the  median  to  serve  as  the  central 
tendency  of  that  column,  and  the  arithmetical  mean  of  these  two 
was  taken  as  the  basis  for  calculating  deviations  and  making  com- 
parisons. These  medians  were  generally  in  fractions,  and  the  dis- 
tribution was  therefore  first  made  by  tenths  per  cent.,  ranging 
from  79.7  to  99.3.  These  marks  were  readily  grouped  in  the  regular 
percentage  scale  by  including  as  80  per  cent,  all  from  79.6  to  80.5, 


52  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

as  8 1  per  cent  all  from  806  to  81.5,  and  so  on.  The  result  of 
this  was  Table  XI.  The  same  facts  are  shown  graphically  in 
Fig.  7. 

Here,  too,  the  curve  skews  overwhelmingly  to  the  upper  end  of 
the  scale.  There  was  no  way  of  determining  the  passing  mark. 
No  grades  in  figures  were  below  70.  but  no  median  was  below  80. 
Hence  this  scale  has  but  twenty  steps  (cf.  24  for  Boston).  The 
lowest  quintile  covers  eleven  of  these  steps,  80-91  per  cent,  and 
the  highest  quintile  but  four.  The  remaining  60  per  cent  are  com- 
pressed within  four  steps.  The  mode  and  the  median  both  fall  at 
94,  within  five  steps  of  the  highest  grades  given,  and  only  six  steps 
from  the  perfection  limit. 

The  general  tendencies  emphasized  are  therefore  the  same  as 
those  pointed  out  in  the  preceding  table. 


TABLE  XI 
Distribution  of  Individual  Medians.   Drew  Seminary  Grades 

Median  Per  Cent.  Number  of  Individuals 

80  I 

81  o 

82  2 

83  I 

84  I 

85  2 

86  6 

87  6 

88  4 

89  10 

90  18 

91  20     71 

92  30 

93  55 

94  66 

95  61    212 

96  45 

97  21 

98  4 

99  2 

100  o     72 

355    355 


A  Study  of  Theological  School  Graduates 


53 


80 

81 

82 

83 

84 

85 

86 

87 

88 

89 

90 

91 

9293  94  95 

96 

97 

)8 

99 

I 

■■ 

Y*" 

... 

-*> 

*2([5er 

i 

20 

pe 

r 

;en 

t. 

■ 

cen;.  , 

4-  - 

1 

: 

^^1 

] 

1 

^^^^^^■^H 

1 

1 

1 

^ 

^ 

^^H 

■J 

1 

0 

2 

1 

1 

2 

6 

6 

4 

10 

18 

20 

1 

30 
60 

55 

per 

66 
cer 

61 

,^5 

1 

21 

4 

2 

Fig.  7.    Curve  Showing  Distribution  of  Individual  Grades,  Drew 
Theological  Seminary.    1902-1911 


Garrett  Biblical  Institute.  In  this  institution  the  records  were 
complete  with  the  exception  of  four  individuals.  The  degree  of 
B.D.  had  been  given  to  138  college  graduates.  The  205  graduating 
in  the  Diploma  course  may  or  may  not  have  had  part  or  all  of  a 
college  course.  Part  of  the  grades  were  in  figures  and  part  in  letters. 
The  letters  seemed  to  be  used  according  to  two  systems,  one  a 
simple  "passed"  or  "failed"  (P  and  F)  and  the  other  ranging  from 
P  to  A.  With  what  clues  were  available  by  inspection,  the  following 
numerical  values  were  assigned  to  the  letters:  F,  60;  C,  75;  G,  80; 
B,  85;  E,  90;  A,  95.  As  it  was  impossible  to  tell  what  value 
to  assign  P,  the  mark  was  consistently  omitted.  The  other 
grades  were  sufficiently  numerous  to  give  at  least  a  probable 
value  to  the  measures  obtained  from  them  alone.  For  con- 
venience the  first  and  second  semesters  were  chosen  for  the  ran- 
dom  halves. 

After  trying  out  several  random  samplings,  it  was  found  that 
the  medians  so  closely  approximated  the  arithmetical  average, 
in  each  column  and  between  the  columns,  that  to  save  time  the 


54  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

average  was  used.    The  distribution  of  these  individual  medians 
is  shown  in  Table  XII,  and  graphically  in  Fig.  8. 


TABLE 

XII 

NDiviDUAL  Medians. 

Garrett  Biblical 

Median  Per 

Cent. 

Number  of  1 

ndivii 

"Pass" 

I 

I 

73 

I 

74 

2 

75 

2 

76 

3 

77 

6 

78 

5 

79 

9 

8o 

II 

8i 

13 

82  5 

16 

68 

^ 

30 

84. 

21 

85 

38 

86 

33 

87 

28 

88* 

^ 

205 

89 

21 

90 

21 

91 

9 

92 

6 

93 

5 

94 

2 

95 

2 
340 

66 
340 

The  number  of  steps  is  one  less  than  that  covered  by  the  Boston 
medians  and  three  more  than  the  Drew  scale,  but  the  curve  is 
more  nearly  normal.  The  mode  falls  on  the  middle  step,  and  the 
median  on  the  one  above.  The  upper  quintile  includes  seven  steps 
to  balance  the  10  of  the  lower  quintile,  and  the  highest  medians 
are  five  steps  from  the  perfection  point.  This  tendency  to  recognize 

*  The  quintile?  rc4uired  an  average  of  68  names.  By  removing  four  which  were 
82  +  to  the  83  column,  the  lower  quintile  included  all  of  the  individual  medians  be- 
tween 73  and  82.  Removing  eight  marks  of  89  —  to  the  88  column,  left  66  between 
89  and  95  inclusive  for  the  upper  quintile. 

'  4  grades  of  82  +  counted  as  83. 

'  8  grades  of  89  —  counted  as  88. 


A  Study  of  Theological  School  Graduates 


55 


wider  variations  in  individual  performance  stands  out  plainly  as 
one  traces  the  whole  series  of  grades.  Most  of  the  instructors  seemed 
to  feel  free  to  give  the  same  man  in  the  same  subject  grades  several 
steps  apart  and  to  distribute  their  students  over  almost  the  whole 
range.  This  is  a  wholesome  tendency  and  if  the  grades  were  all  in 
a  single  system  of  either  letters  or  figures,  the  marks  would  have  a 
high  reliability  as  measures. 


fix 

73 

74 

75 

76 

77 

78 

79 

80 

81 

83 

83 

84 

85 

86 

87 

88 

89 

30 

91 

33 

93 

94 

95 

^— 

~" 

'"' 

"~ 

"~i 

(0<H 

'  P 

Br 

ce 

It. 

1 
t 

■ 

H 

t 

1  — 

~"" 

>  — • 

^*" 

*—'■ 

"" 

._. 

^^ 

~" 

-^I 

■_■ 

2( 

)  p 

er( 

(en 

t. 

20 

P< 

ir 

sei 

t. 

- 

: 

' 

■ 

^ 

^ 

V 

1 

3- 

a 

T 

6 

5 

9 

li 

13 

16 

30 

21 

38 

33, 

28 

35 

^1 

21 

9 

6 

5 

2 

2 

Fig.  8.    Curve    Showing    Distribution    of     Individual     Medians.      Garrett 
Biblical  Institute.    1902-1911 


Professional  and  Geographical  Distribution  of  Theological 
School  Graduates 

What  are  the  graduates  doing?  The  avowed  purpose  of  the  theo- 
logical schools  is  to  train  men  for  the  Christian  ministry,  and  the 
"ministry"  is  generally  interpreted  as  signifying  pulpit  and  pastoral 
work.  The  analysis  of  present  occupations  of  graduates  (Table  IX) 
shows  that  965  of  the  living  graduates  are  in  regular  ministerial 
work.  But  this  table  also  shows  a  relatively  small  but  well  defined 
group  of  114  men  who  were  or  had  been  distributed  among  occupa- 
tions connecting  with  the  "ministry"  only  by  religious  purpose  or 
denominational  organization.  As  to  professional  or  vocational 
import,  they  are  allied  with  teaching,  journalism,  social  and  busi- 
ness executive  work. 

Another  differentiation  may  be  made  in  regard  to  the  63  workers 
in  foreign  fields.  While  the  Minutes  give  their  appointment  both 
to  pastoral   and   evangelistic   duties,   and   to   the   professions  just 


56  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

named,  one  at  all  familiar  with  the  actual  work  of  such  men  realizes 
that  there  is  a  certain  pioneering  initiative  and  adaptability  de- 
manded, by  conditions  not  capable  of  such  "standardizing"  as  pre- 
vails in  ministerial  work  in  the  home  country. 

Who  are  the  men  who  leave  the  pastorate?  It  is  evident  from 
the  study  of  the  individual  cases  that  many  of  these  men  go  direct 
from  the  theological  school  into  these  non-pastoral  vocations.  Is 
the  vocational  training  offered  by  the  theological  school  adapted 
to  such  specializations?  Are  there  any  special  tendencies  in  the 
men  drawn  into  these  other  occupations  which  might  be  discovered 
in  time  to  deflect  them  to  more  specialized  preparation,  either  by 
extending  the  range  of  electives  in  these  schools  or  by  suggesting 
other  professional  schools? 

A  comparison  of  the  median  grades  of  the  individuals  of  these 
graduates  with  the  distribution  of  the  median  of  the  schools  as  a 
whole  is  interesting.  (See  Tables  XIII  to  XVI.)  While  the  data 
at  hand  show  many  gaps,  certain  trends  or  tendencies  do  stand  out. 
The  limitations  in  determining  the  precise  scholarship  ranking, 
the  lack  of  record  marks  of  some  of  the  specially  prominent  men, 
and  the  inaccessibility  of  figures  recording  the  incoine  of  any  of 
the  graduates  except  those  in  the  pastorate  or  district  superin- 
tendency  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  all  tend  to  make 
deductions  more  or  less  general.  Nevertheless  the  partial  answers 
are  interesting. 

Grades  of  Educational  Men.  Of  the  group  of  College,  University, 
and  Theological  School  Presidents,  Vice-Presidents  and  Deans, 
records  of  fourteen  have  been  preserved.  Just  one  has  a  grade  less 
than  the  median  of  all  the  graduates  and  that  comes  in  the  lowest 
fifth.  The  grades  of  two  others  fall  on  the  median.  Of  the  eleven 
above  the  median  six  are  in  the  highest  fifth  of  all  the  graduates. 
(See  Fig.  9.) 

Among  the  College  and  University  Professors  one  has  no  record, 
two  fall  below  the  median,  three  on  the  median,  and  of  the  twenty 
above  the  median,  ten  are  within  the  upper  fifth. 

Of  the  Theological  School  Professors,  three  have  no  records, 
none  are  below  the  median,  three  are  on  the  median  and  of  the  ten 
above  the  median,  seven  are  in  the  highest  fifth. 


A  Study  of  Theological  School  Graduates 


57 


TABLE  XIII 
Boston  Graduates,  1902-1911,  in  Educational  (Academic)  Work 

Indiv.  Deviation  from  Position 

Median  Grade 

1  +8  President  Theological  School 

2  +8  Professor  Theological  School 

3  +7  College  Professor 

4  +6  Professor  Theological  School 

5  +6  University  Professor 

6  +6  University  Professor 

7  +5  Professor  Theological  School 

8  +4  University  Professor 

9  +4  Director  American  College  (Foreign) 

10  +3  College  President 

11  +3  Professor  Theological  School 

12  +3  University  Professor 

13  +2  University  Professor 

14  +2  Dean  Theological  School 

15  +2  College  Professor  at  time  of  death 

16  +2  Professor  Theological  School  (Foreign) 

17  +2  College  Professor 

18  +2  Professor  State  Normal  School  (College) 

19  +2  Chancellor  University 

20  +1  College  President 

21  +1  College  President 

22  +  I  University  Professor 

23  +1  Principal  Secondary  School 

24  +  I  Teacher  Secondary  School  (Foreign) 

25  o  College  President 

26  o  Dean  of  College 

27  o  Professor  Theological  School  (Foreign) 

28  o  Professor  Theological  School 

29  o  College  Professor 

30  o  College  Professor 

31  —  I  College  Professor 

32  —  5  "Teaching  when  last  heard  froni" 


Deceased 

Retired 

Not  on  Present  Records 

Incomplete   or   Uncertain 

Address 
Foreign  Countries 


Summary 

I     College,  University  or  Theological  School 

1  Directors,  Chancellors  or  Presidents  7 

2  Secondary  School  Principals  3 
College  or  Graduate  School  Deans  2 

3  College  or  University  Professors  13 

4  Theological  School  Professors  7 
Not  Known  I 


58 


Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 


TABLE  XIV 
Drew  Seminary  Graduates,  1902-1911,  in  Educational  (Academic)  Work 
Indiv.  Deviation  from  Position 


I 
2 
3 
4 
5 
.  6 

7 
8 

9 
10 
II 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 

17 
18 

19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 
28 
29 


Deviation  from 
Median  Grade 

No  record 
No  record 
No  record 
No  record 
No  record 
No  record 
No  record 
No  record 
No  record 

+  3 

+  3 

+  3 

+  3 

+  2 

+  2 

+  I 

+  I 

+  I 

+  I 

+  I 

+  I 

+  I 
o 
o 

—  I 

—  I 

—  I 

—  3 

—  6 


College  President  (foreign) 

College  President 

College  President 

College  Professor 

Professor  Theological  School 

Professor  Theological  School 

Professor  Theological  School 

President  Secondary  School 

Sup't.  Secondary  School  (foreign) 

College  President 

Professor  Theological  School 

University  Professor 

University  Professor 

University  Professor 

Professor  Secondary  School  (not  known) 

College  President 

President  Secondary  School 

Professor  Theological  School 

Professor  Theological  School 

University  Professor  (foreign) 

College  Professor 

"Teaching;  not  known" 

University  Professor 

Professor  Theological  School  (died) 

College  Professor 

Professor  Secondary  School 

Professor  Secondary  School  (not  known) 

College  President 

President  Secondary  School 


Deceased  i 

Not  on  Present  Records  4 

Incomplete  Address  2 

Foreign  Countries  3 


Summary 

College  or  University  Presidents  6 

Secondary  School  Principals  4 

College  and  University  Professors  8 

Theological  School  Professors  7 

Secondary  School  Teacher  i 

Not  known  3 


A  Study  of  Theological  School  Graduates  59 

TABLE  XV 

Garrett  Biblical  Institute  Graduates,  1902-1911,  in  Educational 
(Academic)  Work 

Deviation  from  _,     .  . 

Indiv.  1^  J-      /-     7  Positton 

J.  «u.K/.  Median  Grade 

1  +7  Vice-President  College 

2  +5  University  President 

3  -|-  5  Professor  Theological  School 

4  +5  Professor  Theological  School 

5  +5  University  Professor 

6  +4  College  Professor 

7  +4  Principal  Secondary  School  (foreign) 

8  +4  "Teacher" 

9  +3  College  Professor 

10  +1  College  Professor  (foreign) 

11  +1  College  Professor 

12  +1  College  Professor  (not  known) 

13  —  I  Principal  Secondary  School  (foreign) 

14  —  I  Principal  Secondary  School  (foreign) 

15  —  3  Sup't.  Preparatory  School  (foreign) 

16  —  7  Pres.  Secondary  Bible  School  (foreign) 

Summary 

Not  on  Present  Records  i     College  &  University  Pres.  &  Vice- Pres.  2 

Leave  of  Absence  l     Secondary  and  Training  School  Principals  5 

Foreign  Countries  5     Not  Known  2 

College  and  University  Professors  5 

Theological  School  Professors  2 

TABLE  XVI 

Summary  of  Graduates  in  Academic  Positions 

Educational                       Boston  Drew  Garrett             Total 
College,  Univ.,  Theolog.  School 

Pres.,  Vice-Pres.  and  Deans     9  (i  for.)  6  (i  for.)  2  17  (2  for.) 

College  and  Univ.  Professors   .13  8  (i  for.)  5  26  (i  for.) 

Theol.  School  Professors  ...      7  (2  for.)  7  2  16  (2  for.) 
Secondary  and  Training  School 

Principals 2  4  (i  for.)  5  (5  for.)  11  (6  for.) 

Secondary  School  Teachers      .  i  o  i 

Not  Known                                       '  _?  _^  _? 

Totals      32  29  16  77 

Deceased i  i  o  2 

Retired i  o  o  i 

Not  on  Present  Records  ...      2  4  3  9 
Incomplete  or   Uncertain  Ad- 
dress  3  2  I  6 

Foreign  Countries      4  3  5  '2 


6o  SiLccess  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

Presidents 


No   record 

3. 

+8, 

+7, 

+5, 

+4, 

+3, 

+3. 

+  2, 

+2, 

+  1, 

+  1. 

+  1, 

(>> 

o, 

-3- 

College  and  University  Professors  No  record         i,  +7,  +6,  +6,  +5,  +4, 

+4.  +3,  +3.  +3.  +3,  +2, 

+2,  +2,  +2,  +2,  +1,  +1, 

+  1,  +1,  +1,  o,  (),  o, 


—  I,      —  I. 


Theological   School    Professors      No  record 

+5. 

Secondary    and     Training     School 

Principals  and  Teachers  No   record 

—  I, 

Not  Known  +4, 


3. 

+8, 

+6, 

+5, 

+5, 

+3, 

+3. 

+2, 

+  1, 

+  1, 

0, 

0. 

2, 

+4, 

+  1, 

+  1, 

+  1, 

—  I, 

—  I, 

-3- 

-6, 

-7. 

+2, 

+  1, 

+  1, 

—  I, 

~5- 

Fig.  9.    Summary  of  Grades  of  Educators.    (Variations  from  Medians  of  Own 

School.) 


Of  the  Secondary  and  Training  School  Principals  and  Teachers, 
two  have  no  records.  Of  the  six  below  the  median,  three  are  in  the 
lowest  fifth  of  all  the  grades,  and  none  falls  on  the  median.  Of  the 
four  above  the  median,  only  one  is  in  the  highest  fifth. 

Six  individuals  whose  present  work  is  not  known  were  teaching 
when  last  heard  from.  One  of  these  is  recorded  as  a  college  professor 
and  two  as  secondary  school  teachers;  the  others  simply  as  "teach- 
ing." Their  grades  are,  two  below  the  median  and  four  above,  with 
one  each  in  the  lowest  and  highest  fifths. 

A  study  of  the  negative  deviations  is  of  interest.  Of  the  entire 
68  whose  records  are  preserved  only  11,  or  16  per  cent,  are  below 
the  median  grade  of  the  entire  number  of  graduates.  Six  of  the  1 1 
are  only  one  step  below.  Of  the  remaining  five,  one  has  been  lost 
track  of.  Two  are  superintendents  of  foreign  training  schools, 
and,  as  has  been  suggested,  the  necessity  of  manning  work  that  has 
been  commenced  compels  missionaries  to  attempt  many  kinds  of 
work  that  they  would  not  otherwise  choose. 


A  Study  of  Theological  School  Graduates  6 1 

TABLE  XVII 

Boston  Graduates,  1902-1911,  in  Executive  Work 

Indiv.  Deviation  from  Position 

Median  Grade 

1  +5  Sup't.  Deaconess  Home  (died) 

2  +4  Sup't.  City  Mission  Society 

3  +4  Sup't.  Deaconess  Home  (died) 

4  +2  Secretary  State  Board  of  Charities 

5  +2  Anti-Saloon  League 

6  o  Sec'y.  State  Children's  Society 

7  o  Dep't.  Sup't.  Denominational  Board 

8  o  Field  Sec'y.  Denominational  Board 

9  —  I  Field  Sec'y.  Denominational  Board 

10  —  4  Sup't.  City  Mission  Society 

11  —6  Field  Sec'y.  State  Sunday  School  Ass'n. 


TABLE  XVIII 

D 

REw  Seminary  Graduates,  1902-1911,  in  Executive  \ 

idiv. 

Deviation  from 

Position 

Median  Grade 

I 

— 

Interdenominational  Board 

2 

— 

Editor  Denominational  Publication 

3 

— 

Ass't.  Ed.  Interdenominational  Pub, 

4 

+  4 

Editor  Denominational  Publication 

5 

+  4 

Denominational  Board 

6 

+  3 

Anti-Tuberculosis  Ass'n. 

7 

+  2 

Denominational  Board 

8 

+  2 

Fiscal  Agent  Hospital 

9 

+  I 

Denominational  Board 

10 

+  I 

Anti-Saloon  League 

II 

+  I 

City  Federation  of  Churches 

12 

+  I 

Interdenominational  Board 

13 

+  I 

Conference  Field  Secretary 

14 

+  I 

Y.  M.  C.  A. 

15 

0 

Y.  M.  C.  A. 

16 

0 

Denominational  Board 

17 

—  I 

Foreign  Diplomatic  Service 

18 

—  I 

Denominational  Board 

19 

—  2 

Y.  M.  C.  A. 

20 

—  2 

Y.  M.  C.  A. 

2[ 

—  2 

Anti-Saloon  League 

22 

—  3 

Sup't.  City  Mission  Society 

62  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

TABLE  XIX 

Garrett  Biblical  Institute,  1902-1911,  in  Executive  Work 

Indiv.  Deviation  from                        Position 
Median  Grade 

1  +  5  Y.  M.  C.  A. 

2  +4  Conference  Field  Secretary 

3  +3  Field  Secretary  for  Hospital 

4  +2  Y.  M.  C.  A. 

5  +1  Y.  M.  C.  A. 

6  —  I  Conference  Field  Secretary 

7  —  I  Editor  Mission  Press  (Foreign)  » 

8  —  3  Conference  Field  Secretary 

9  —  4  International  Sunday  School  Ass'n.  (foreign) 
10  —  4  Sup't.  City  Philanthropy 

For  Summary  of  Executive  Positions  see  Table  IX. 

Grades  of  Executives.  First  looking  at  this  group  as  a  whole,  the 
distribution  of  grades  is  as  follows:  lowest  one-fifth,  6;  others  below 
the  median,  8;  on  the  median,  5;  above  the  median,  ii;  besides  10 
in  the  highest  fifth.  That  is,  of  the  40  records,  25  per  cent  instead 
of  20  per  cent  were  in  the  highest  fifth  of  scholarship,  and  15  per 
cent  instead  of  20  per  cent  in  the  lowest  fifth,  while  the  distribution 
of  the  remaining  60  per  cent  is  about  equal  to  that  among  the  rest 
of  their  classmates. 

The  denominational  and  interdenominational  boards  and  in- 
stitutions range  all  the  way  from  field  secretaries  of  the  Boards  of 
Sunday  Schools  or  Foreign  Missions  to  Superintendent  of  a  Deacon- 
ess Home  or  Fiscal  Agent  of  a  hospital  (see  Table  IX).  There  are 
records  of  the  theological  school  grades  of  19  of  the  20  people  thus 


4-4,  +4.  +4. 
+  1,  +1,  +1. 
—  I.        —I.         —I, 


Denominational  and  Interdenomin- 

ational Boards  and  Institutions     No   record 

I, 

+5. 

+3. 

+2. 

+2, 

0, 

0. 

0. 

-3. 

-4. 

-6. 

City  and  State  Social  and 

Philan- 

thropic  Organizations 

+4, 

+3. 

+2,        +2, 

—  2, 

-3. 

-4.       -4- 

Y.  M.  C.  A. 

+5. 

+2, 

+  1.       +1. 

Editors 

No  record  2, 

-4-       -'• 

Foreign  Diplomatic  Service 

—  I. 

+  1,        +1,       o. 


o, 


FiG.  10.   Summary  of  Grades  of  Executives 


A  Study  of  Theological  School  Graduates  63 

engaged.  Six  of  them  fall  below  the  median  and  3  of  these  are  in 
the  lowest  fifth  of  all  the  grades.  Three  are  on  the  median  and  10 
above.   Of  these,  6  are  in  the  highest  fifth  in  scholarship. 

The  organizations  listed  as  social  and  philanthropic  include  City 
Missionary  Society,  State  Charitable  Associations,  National  Anti- 
Tuberculosis  Association,  State  and  National  Anti-Saloon  League 
and  others  (See  Table  IX).  Of  the  1 1  men  thus  engaged,  4  had  grades 
below  the  median,  one  on  the  median,  and  6  above.  Three  are  in 
the  lowest  fifth  and  2  in  the  highest. 

The  remaining  individuals  classified  as  executives  include  7  in 
various  phases  of  Y.M.C.A.  work,  4  editors  and  one  Chinese  gentle- 
man who  was,  at  last  accounts.  Assistant  Secretary  of  Foreign 
Affairs  in  a  former  governmental  cabinet.  For  two  of  this  group, 
there  are  no  records.  Four  are  below  the  median,  one  on  the  median 
and  5  above.   None  are  in  the  lowest  fifth  and  two  are  in  the  highest. 

There  are  too  few  cases  to  justify  any  conclusions  as  to  the  dis- 
tribution, as  regards  scholarship,  between  the  denominational  and 
other  executive  interests. 


Indiv. 


TABLE 

XX 

Graduates, 

1902- 

-1911, 

IN 

Foreign  Missionary 

Deviation  /i 

rom 

Country 

Median  Grade 

I 

+  5 

India 

2 

+  4 

Chile  (Educational) 

3 

+  3 

Java 

4 

+  2 

China 

5 

+  2 

China  (Educational) 

6 

-1-2 

Mexico 

7 

+  I 

Africa  (Educational) 

8 

0 

Singapore 

9 

0 

India  (Educational) 

10 

0 

Korea 

II 

0 

Mexico 

12 

—  I 

China 

13 

-  3 

Mexico 

14 

-  5 

Japan 

15 

-  5 

China 

16 

-  7 

Japan 

17 

—  10 

Philippines 

18 

-II 

Sweden  (not  known) 

64  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

Grades  of  Missionaries.  Of  the  63  men  in  foreign  ser\'ice,  9  have 
no  records.  Eight  grades  are  on  the  median,  with  23  above  and  23 
below.  Of  those  whose  grades  are  recorded  one-fifth  would  be  eleven ; 
16  are  in  the  lowest  one-fifth  and  9  in  the  highest. 


TABLE 

XXI 

fARY 

Graduates,  i 

[902-191 ] 

t,  IN  Foreign  Missio 

ndiv. 

Deviation  from 

Country 

Median  Grade 

I 

— 

China  (Educational) 

2 

— 

Argentina 

3 

— 

Japan 

4 

— 

China  (Educational) 

5 

— 

Maylasia 

6 

— 

India 

7 

— 

Korea 

8 

— 

Newfoundland 

9 

+  2 

China 

10 

+  2 

England 

II 

+  I 

Russia 

12 

+  I 

Cuba 

13 

+  I 

China  (Educational) 

14 

+  I 

Japan 

15 

+  I 

China 

16 

+  I 

Japan 

17 

0 

Korea 

18 

0 

Africa 

19 

—  I 

China  (Diplomatic) 

20 

—  I 

England 

21 

-  3 

Argentina 

22 

-  3 

Syria 

23 

-  4 

France 

24 

-  4 

Japan 

25 

-  8 

Japan 

Inspection  of  Tables  XX-XXII  and  Fig.  11  shows  that  the 
negative  deviations  are  very  large.  In  general  the  men  with  the 
lowest  grades  in  educational  work  are  found  in  the  missionary 
schools.  This  suggests  that  exigency  rather  than  voluntary 
choice  has  given  them  these  positions.  This  is  borne  out  by  the 
fact  that  most  of  the  missionaries  in  educational  work  have  also 
executive  and  evangelistic  duties. 

Deductions  from  Data  of  "Other  Occupations."  Is  anything  surely 
to  be  concluded  from  the  data  just  summarized?   The  numbers  are 


A  Skidy  of  Theological  School  Graduates  65 

TABLE  XXII 

Garrett  Biblical  Institute  Graduates,  1902- 19 it,  in  Foreign  Missionary 

Service 

Indiv. 


I 
2 

3 
4 
5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
10 
II 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 

17 
18 

19 
20 

too  few,  too  many  grades  are  missing,  and  the  figures  chosen  to 
represent  each  individual's  scholarship  contain  too  many  elements 
of  uncertainty  to  answer  unqualifiedly.  But  certain  tendencies  do 
show  very  plainly. 

1.  The  men  with  the  highest  rank  in  the  theological  schools  tend 
to  enter  educational  work.  Of  those  at  the  head  of  educational 
institutions  of  college  or  graduate  rank,  as  far  as  we  have  records, 
43  per  cent  stood  in  the  highest  20  per  cent  in  scholarship.  The 
professors  in  colleges  and  universities  have  40  per  cent  of  their 
number  in  this  quintile.  Of  the  theological  professors  for  whom  we 
have  records,  54  per  cent  are  in  this  highest  rank. 

2.  The  secondary  and  training  school  principals  and  teachers  are 
as  a  whole  distinctly  of  a  different  type.  Only  10  per  cent  are  in 
the  highest  20  per  cent;  while  six  of  the  10  individuals  are  below 
the  median  and  30  per  cent  are  in  the  lowest  fifth. 

3.  While  somewhat  more  than  a  proportionate  number  of  the  men 
in  executive  and  social  positions  are  of  high  scholarship  rank,  that 


Deviatio 

n  from 

Country 

Median  Grade 

— 

Korea 

+  6 

Korea 

+  5 

Japan 

+  4 

India 

+  4 

Philippine  Islands 

+  3 

India 

+  2 

India 

+  2 

India 

+  I 

India  (Educational) 

0 

Korea 

0 

Africa 

—  I 

Africa  (Educational) 

—  I 

Chile 

—  I 

India  (Educational) 

—  2 

Philippines 

-  3 

Japan  (Not  in  Minutes) 

-  3 

India  (Educational) 

-  4 

Uruguay 

-  5 

China  (Not  in  Minutes) 

-  7 

Chile  (Educational) 

+6, 

+5, 

+5, 

+4- 

+4, 

+4, 

+3, 

+  2, 

+  2. 

+3, 

+  2, 

+  2, 

+  2, 

+  2, 

+2, 

+  1, 

+  1, 

+  1, 

+  1, 

+  1, 

+  1, 

+  1, 

+  1. 

o, 

T 

—  I, 

-3. 

T 

o, 

o, 

o, 

—  I, 

-4. 

o. 

1  f 

-3. 

-3. 

—  I  1 

-3. 

—  I  , 

-3. 

—  2. 

-4. 

-4. 

-5. 

-5- 

-5. 

~7< 

-7, 

-8, 

—  10, 

—  I  I. 

66  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

trait  does  not  seem  to  be  a  controlling  factor  in  their  choice  of  such 
work. 

4.  The  correlation  of  high  scholarship  with  choice  of  the  mission- 
ary field  would  seem  to  be  slightly  negative,  as  far  as  the  present 
figures  show. 

No  Record  9 

Highest  Fifth 

Others  above  Medians 

On  Medians  o 

Below  Medians  (besides) 
Lowest  Fifth  , 


Fig.  II.   Summary  of  Grades  of  Missionaries 

In  this  connection  an  observation  of  Professor  HoUingworth  is 
worth  quoting:  "One  who  does  anything  well  could  have  done  al- 
most anything  else  well  if  he  had  cared  to  try.  But  the  degree  to 
which  one  cares  is  not  measured  by  reaction-time  or  cancellation 
tests."  While  we  must  pay  due  attention  to  the  "overwhelming 
importance  of  incentive,  motive,  attitude  and  purpose  and  the 
large  part  they  play  in  determining  the  possible  achievements  of  a 
nervous  system,"  yet  the  actual  achievements  of  a  nervous  system 
give  some  indication  of  its  possibilities.  One  man  whose  grades  in 
the  first  term  each  of  Hebrew  and  Greek  were  between  40  and  50  per 
cent  gave  up  those  studies  and  graduated  in  an  English  diploma 
course — then  went  as  a  missionary  to  China!  He  is  not  now  in  the 
Minutes  nor  was  any  further  record  obtainable. 

Grades  of  Seminary  Men  and  Ability  i?t  Four  Traits.  In  the 
membership  of  the  two  conferences  studied  in  Part  I  were  fifty-six 
men  Avho  had  graduated  from  Drew  Theological  Seminary  during 
the  decade  under  consideration.  Some  of  these  had  no  records  of 
scholarship  grades,  and  some  others  had  been  rated  by  fewer  than 
four  judges.  Omitting  these  left  a  group  of  thirty-nine  Drew 
graduates  whose  seminary  grades  were  available  and  whose  abilities 
in  the  four  ministerial  traits  had  been  estimated  by  four  or  more 
judges.  Proceeding  in  the  usual  manner  of  cross-correlating  the 
random  halves  of  the  deviations  of  each  man's  grades  (from  the 
central  tendency  of  the  entire  group  of  graduates)  with  the  a  and  h 


A  Study  of  Tlieological  School  Graduates  67 

columns  of  his  deviations  in  the  four  traits  (from  the  central  tendency 
3)  and  finding  the  self-correlations  of  this  group  in  both  grades  and 
traits  (to  correct  for  attenuation),  we  have  the  following  results: 

Sermon     Ability    and    Theological     Grades +  .079 

Pastoral     Ability    and  Theological    Grades +44 

Executive  Ability  and   Theological   Grades +43 

Evangelistic  Ability  and  Theological  Grades +  -077 

The  probable  errors  in  the  ratios  are  so  large  that  conclusions 
must  wait  until  a  larger  number  of  cases  can  be  studied. 

RELATION    OF    THEOLOGICAL    SCHOOL    GRADES    TO 
OCCUPATION   AND    INCOME 

Another  way  of  getting  at  the  relation  between  scholarship  and 
occupation  is  to  see  what  the  highest  one-fifth  and  lowest  one-fifth 
of  the  graduates  are  actually  doing  and,  as  far  as  possible,  what 
their  income  is.  Tables  XXIII  and  XXIV  give  this  information  in 
summarized  fonn. 

By  comparing  Table  IX  with  Table  XXIII  we  see  that  965  of  the 
1 1 63  living  graduates  are  in  the  pastorate.  The  normal  distribution 
would  put  40  per  cent  of  these  in  the  highest  and  lowest  quintiles  of 
scholarship.  There  are,  including  district  superintendents,  279, 
which  is  barely  29  per  cent.  On  the  other  hand,  62  of  the  entire 
number  of  graduates  were  in  academic  positions  in  the  United  States 
and  21,  or  more  than  one-third  of  them,  were  in  the  highest  quintile; 
while  only  two,  or  a  little  more  than  3  per  cent,  were  in  the  lowest 
20  per  cent  in  scholarship. 

In  the  entire  number  of  graduates  there  were  40  men  in  executive 
and  editorial  positions.  Of  these,  the  9  in  the  highest  fifth  form  only  a 
fraction  more  than  20  per  cent,  and  the  5  in  the  lowest  fifth  a  larger 
fraction  less.  Of  the  total  of  149  graduates  entirely  out  of  the  minis- 
try or  related  work,  fewer  than  1 1  per  cent  are  from  the  highest  fifth 
and  29  per  cent  are  in  the  lowest  fifth.  So  while  the  highest  and 
lowest  grades  together  have  their  normal  share  of  withdrawals, 
those  having  the  lowest  grades  tend  to  withdraw  from  the  work  for 
which  they  took  their  training  about  three  times  as  frequently  as 
those  in  the  highest  rank. 

The  number  of  women  is  so  small  that  no  conclusions  can  be 
drawn.  It  is,  however,  interesting  to  note  that  the  entire  number 
of  women  graduating  during  the  decade  was  nine.  Of  these,  8 
were  in  the  highest  quintile,  one  in  the  lowest  and  none  in  the 
middle  or  average  section.  Their  occupations  were: 


68  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

"Congregational  Church"  (Pastor  ?) i 

Pastor's  Assistant      i 

Pastor's  Wife 2   (3  ?) 

Superintendent,  Deaconess  Home      2  (deceased) 

No  Record      3 

For  the  last  three,  the  records  gave  post  office  addresses  only. 
Questionnaires  were  addressed  to  them  but  one  was  returned  un- 
delivered, and  another  was  returned  with  the  reply  that  as  she 
"had  not  the  honor  to  be  either  a  man  or  a  minister"  her  data  could 
be  of  no  value. 

TABLE  XXIII 

All  Seminary  Grades.     Highest  and  Lowest  Fifths 

Boston  Drew  Garrett  Total 

Status  of  igiy    98-93  75-86  99-96  80-91     95-89       73-82 

Hi/5  Li/5  Hi/5  Li/5    H    1/5      L    i /s      H  i /5       L  i /5 

Deceased     .    .    .   3(2w)       13  03  ~  9  3 

Lost  Track  of        o  8       4(21)       11       5(2w)     12  9  31 

No  Address  but 
in  Other  De- 
nomination     .2  01  21  o  4  2 

Leave  of  Absence   i  10  00  o  i  i 

Supenumerary    .3  21  14  i  8  4 

Located  or  Re- 
tired    ....o  31  21  3  2  8 

Discontinued    or 

Withdrawn      .4  10  10  i  4  3 

"Laymen"    .    .    .   o  01  o       i(w)         i  2(iw)       i 

Teaching  or  School 

Executive  U.S.  10  o       5(2L)       26  o  21  2 

Editing    ....o  01  00  o  i  o 

Executive  and  So- 
cial   (incl.    Y. 
M.  C.  A.)     .    .   2  24  12  2  8  5 

Chaplain     ...i  20  00  o  i  2 

Foreign   (Pastor- 
al    and     Teach- 
ing)       ....    4  44  33  5(2L)         II  I2(2L) 

Dist.Sup't.  (U.S.)  2  II               II  I  4  3 

Pastorate,  U.  S.  45(iw)  53     48  47     39(2w)  4o(iw)     I32(3w)  i4o(iw) 
(Wife,  Assistant) 

Conference     Evan- 
gelist   ....o  00               00  2  o  2 

Women  (included 

above)      ...   3  00               05  i  8  i 

Total    ...    .77  78     72  71     66  68  215  217 

Replies  Received26-i  19-1   16  12     22-1  14  60-2  35-1 


A  Study  of  Theological  School  Graduates 


69 


Out  of  the  Ministry 
{Permanently  and  Voluntarily) 

M  1/5     Li  /5 
Lost  Track  of  ...    . 
Located  or  Retired 

Withdrawn 

La>nian  or  Business    . 


Other  Professions 
{Denominational  Connection) 

H  1/5     Li  /5 


9 

2 

31 

8 

3 

Educators 

Editor 

Executive 

21 
I 
8 

2 
0 

4 

and  Social 

5 

2 

I 

30 

7 

16 


43 


TABLE  XXIV 
Salaries  of  Graduates  Receiving  Highest  and  Lowest  Grades 

Lowest  One- Fifth 


Amount  of 

Highest  C 

Due- Fifth 

Salary  in 

Boston 

Drew 

Garrett 

TotJ 

IQ17  Min. 

98-93 

99-96 

95-89 

% 

% 

% 

To  $599 

600  + 

800  + 

3 

2 

5 

900  + 

1000  + 

I 

2 

I 

4 

1100  + 

I 

2 

I 

4 

1200  + 

2 

I 

2 

5 

1300  + 

2 

2 

2 

6 

1400  + 

I 

6 

4 

II 

1500  + 

4 

5 

2 

II 

1600  + 

3 

2 

4 

9 

1700  + 

3 

3 

2 

7 

1800  + 

I 

3 

3 

7 

1900  + 

3 

2 

5 

2000  + 

3 

4 

I 

8 

2100  + 

5 

I 

5 

II 

2200  + 

2 

3 

I 

6 

2300  + 

1 

I 

I 

3 

2400  + 

2500  + 

I 

I 

2 

2600  + 

2 

I 

I 

4 

2700  + 

2800  + 

2900  + 

I 

I 

3000 

5 

2 

4 

II 

3500  + 

3 

I 

4 

4000  + 

2 

I 

3^ 

No     Record     of 

Amount : 

Missionaries    . 

4 

4 

3 

II 

Professions 

12 

10 

8 

30 

All  Others  .    . 

15 

13 

19 

47 

75-87    80-91 


% 

I 

2 

4 

4 


/o 
I 
I 
3 
3 
4 
7 
5 
3 
3 
4 
3 


18 


3 

3 

19 


73-82 

% 


3 

3 

6 

II 

13 

13 

14 

9 

9 

10 

7 
I 

8 
8 
5 
4 


13 
5 

58 


^o 


Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 


Table  XXIV  shows  general  trends  by  another  method.  The 
salaries  of  all  of  the  men  in  the  pastorate  or  district  superintendency 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  are  printed  annually  in  the 
General  Minutes  of  the  Denomination.  For  those  pastors  in  the 
highest  and  lowest  fifths  of  scholarship  rank  the  figures  of  the  1917 
Minutes  were  taken.  The  salaries  of  these  men  seem  to  fall  natu- 
rally into  six  groups  (each  inclusive):  $1,000  and  under;  |i,ioo 
to  $1,500;  $1,600  to  $1,900;  $2,000  to  $2,400;  $2,500  to  $2,900; 
and  $3,000  or  more.  Fig.  12  shows  the  trend  of  the  two  scholarship 
groups  simplified  to  this  coarser  measure. 


Less  $1100$1600^2000$2500$3000 
han   -    .    _    -   and 
ElOOO  1500  1900  2400  2900^  more 

HBM 

■ 

^ 

Lowest!  One- 

13 
fifth 

7 

4 

Less  |1100$1600$2000$2500$3000 
than       -         -         -         .       and 
$1000  IBOO  1900  2400  2900  more 
Hlgheslfc  Onejfiftli 
"    ^ 28_ 


10  38        28        28        7 

Highest  One-fifth 

Fig.  12.    Distribution  of  Salaries  Received  by  Highest  and   Lowest  Fifths 
in  Scholarships. 


There  is,  of  course,  much  overlapping;  but  even  in  the  graphs 
of  the  schools  taken  separately  a  distinct  trend  is  shown,  and  it 
emerges  much  more  clearly  in  the  totals.  The  mode  of  the  highest 
quintile  occurs  between  $1,400  and  $1,600,  with  none  receiving 
a  salary  below  $800  and  a  group  of  18  receiving  a  salary  of  $3,000 
or  more.  In  the  lowest  one-fifth  in  scholarship,  three  men  receive 
a  salary  below  $600;  the  mode  is  between  $1,000  and  $1,200  with 
only  four  receiving  salaries  above  $3,000.  None  of  this  lower  group 
received  salaries  of  $4,000  or  more,  while  three  such  salaries  were 
paid  to  men  in  the  highest  group. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  Rice's  results  on  "School  Standings  and 


A  Study  of  Theological  School  Graduates  71 

Salaries  in  Later  Life."  He  found  the  coefficient  between  the  two 
to  be 

(Pearson)  r  =   ~{-  .267 

(Unlike  Signs)      r  =   +  .277 

He  divided  his  group  according  to  scholarship  into  quartiles  in- 
stead of  quintiles.  Calling  the  average  salary  of  the  first  quartile 
100  per  cent,  he  found  that  the  average  of  the  second  quartile  was 
87  per  cent,  of  the  third,  85  per  cent,  and  of  the  fourth,  76  per  cent. 
For  reasons  previously  stated,  the  present  study  uses  quintiles 
instead  of  quartiles.  On  that  basis,  calling  the  average  salary  of 
the  first  quintile  100  per  cent,  that  of  the  fifth  or  last  quintile 
would  be  76  per  cent. 

The  above  data  are  for  268  individuals  from  contrasted  quin- 
tiles. For  164  others  no  salary  data  were  obtainable.  Of  these 
164,  24  were  on  the  foreign  field,  35  were  in  professions,  and  105 
were  among  those  retired,  supernumerary,  withdrawn,  in  lay  occu- 
pations, or  entirely  lost  track  of.  If  the  prominence  criterion  were 
to  be  applied,  there  would  be  something  of  a  redistribution  between 
those  about  whose  salaries  information  was  or  was  not  obtainable. 
As  a  large  proportion  of  the  upper  quintile  men,  whose  salaries 
were  not  given,  were  college,  university,  and  theological  school 
presidents  and  professors,  or  prominent  in  social  or  executive  work, 
the  salary  curve  would,  however,  probably  be  but  little  altered  from 
the  direction  in  the  cases  quoted  in  Table  XXIV. 

In  so  far  as  salary  received  and  general  prominence  measure 
the  scope  of  an  individual's  influence  and  usefulness,  it  seems  fair 
to  conclude  that  there  is  a  direct  correspondence  between  an  indi- 
vidual's scholarship  grades  during  his  theological  course  *and  his 
success  in  later  life.  There  is  evidently  more  than  a  chance  rela- 
tionship between  low  scholarship  and  withdrawal  from  the  work 
of  the  ministry.  The  fact  that  they  were  "lost  track  of"  precluded 
any  possibility  of  ascertaining  the  reasons  for  the  withdraw^al  of 
most  of  such  cases.  Absolute  certainty  in  conclusions  would  require 
the  knowledge  of  these  reasons,  and  the  study  of  an  even  larger 
number  of  cases  would  be  desirable.  But  it  seems  a  warrantable 
inference  either  that  these  men  had  chosen  the  wrong  profession, 
or  that  some  other  influence,  such  as  poor  health,  low  vitality,  or 
a  lower  grade  of  general  ability,  affected  their  achievement  both 
in  scholarship  and  in  their  later  work. 


72 


A  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 


3,   Analysis  of  Data  Obtained  from  Questionnaires 

The    most    authoritative    source    of    infomiation    regarding    the 
graduates   of   the   theological    schools   is    that   obtained    from    the 

TABLE  XXV 
Physical  Data  from  Ministers  Sending  Replies  to  Questionnaires 


Age  at 
Crad. 

No. 

23 

3 

24 

10 

25 

10 

26 

26 

27 

32 

28 

33 

29 

22 

30 

35 

31 

22 

32 

22 

33 

15 

34 

13 

35 

17 

36 

6 

37 

9 

38 

6 

39 

4 

40 

2 

41 

3 

42 

3 

43 

2 

44 

I 

45 

I 

51 

I 

30=' 


?q8 


Height        No.      Weight      No. 


4' 

6' 

I 

5' 

0' 

0 

5' 

3' 

2 

5' 

4' 

II 

5' 

5' 

8 

5' 

6' 

24 

5' 

7' 

41 

5' 

8' 

57 

5' 

9' 

47 

5' 

10' 

45 

5' 

11' 

28 

6' 

0' 

29 

6' 

i' 

8 

6' 

2' 

8 

6' 

3' 

2 

6' 

4' 

I 

6' 

5' 

I 

Av.  5' 

8. 

9"   313 

Proportion 
Weight      No.    of  Weight 
(Cont.)  iCont.)to  Height      No. 


*Both  median  and  mode. 


108 

I 

163 

2 

17 

I 

116 

I 

164 

2 

18 

5 

120 

2 

165 

24 

19 

24 

125 

9 

166 

2 

20 

27 

126 

I 

167 

4 

21 

34 

128 

3 

168 

4 

22 

28 

130 

10 

170 

15 

23 

46 

132 

4 

173 

I 

24 

35 

134 

2 

174 

I 

25 

24 

135 

12 

175 

12 

26 

28 

136 

3 

176 

I 

27 

10 

137 

I 

178 

2 

28 

5 

138 

3 

180 

15 

29 

5 

140 

10 

182 

2 

30 

16 

141 

I 

183 

I 

31 

0 

142 

I 

185 

12 

32 

143 

5 

186 

2 

33 

145 

16 

190 

4 

34 

146 

I 

191 

1 

37 

147 

2 

192 

2 

42 

148 

4 

195 

3 

— 

150 

18 

196 

2 

23* 

292 

151 

I 

198 

I 

152 

3 

200 

5 

154 

2 

205 

2 

155 

13 

210 

3 

156 

I 

212 

2 

158 

5 

215 

2 

160 

23 

220 

3 

161 

I 

225 

2 

162 

4 

240 
306 

I 
I 

Av. 

161. 5 

298 

graduates  themselves.  Questionnaires  similar  to  the  sample  already 
given  were  sent  to  975  men  graduated  from  these  theological 
schools  and  replies  were  received  as  follows: 


42 

34 

27 

I03 

47 

34 

41 

122 

33 

24 

28 

85 

A  Study  of  Theological  School  Graduates  73 

Boston  Drew  Garrett  Total 

Class      I  (All  tables  in  figures)   .    . 
Class    II  (All  tables,  part  in  figs.) 
Class  III  (Only  part  of  tables)    .    . 

Total 122  92  96  310 


PERSONAL  AND  SOCIAL  DESCRIPTION 

Most  of  the  310  answered  the  questions  relating  to  age,  weight, 
height,  and  early  environment,  so  that  we  have  for  about  300  men 
who  graduated  from  Methodist  Episcopal  theological  schools  during 
the  years  1902-1911,  a  picture,  more  or  less  representative  of  the 
ministry  as  a  whole,  of  the  physical  type  of  men  at  present  active 
in  the  Christian  ministry,  and  of  the  physical  environment  which 
nurtured  them.  Table  XXV  gives  the  age  at  graduation,  height, 
weight,  and  proportion  of  weight  to  height,  of  all  the  men  who 
entered  these  items  on  their  replies. 

TABLE  XXVI 

A.  Boyhood  Environment 

City 48 

Village 62 

Country 140 

Country  and  Village 27 

Country  and  City 7 

Village  and  City 11 

Village,  City,  and  Country      14 

Not  given 5 

B.  Economic  Environment 

Struggle 133 

Comfort 130 

Ease 2 

Partly  struggle,  Partly  comfort 40 

C.   Combination  of  Community  and  Economic  Factors 

City  and  Struggle      17 

City  and  Comfort 26 

Village  and  Struggle 23 

Village  and  Comfort 35 

Country  and  Struggle 70 

Country  and  Comfort 58 


74  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

Physically  this  group  of  ministers  varies  from  a  height  of  four 
feet  six  inches  to  one  of  six  feet  fiv^e  inches.  More  of  the  men  are 
about  five  feet  eight  or  nine  inches  than  any  other  height  and  more 
of  them  weigh  i6o  pounds  than  any  other  weight.  Their  weight- 
height  ranges  from  17  to  42  with  the  mode  and  the  median  both 
falling  at  23.  It  is  interesting  to  compare  these  figures  with  Gowin's 
figures  for  executives  in  various  occupations  and  the  average  height 
and  weight  of  policy  holders  which  he  quotes.  On  pages  25-28 
of  Gowin's  study  ^  he  gives  in  order  of  rank  the  average  height 
and  weight  of  leaders,  for  example: 

Heigh!  Weight 

Rank  ^''^^'^         ^''^'"  Rank 

1  Reformers 5'  11.4"  18 1. 7  17 

2  Superintendents  of  Street  Cleaning    5'  I1.3"  216.7  i 
8        University  Presidents 5'  10.8"          181. 6               18 

16  Presidents,  Religious  Organizations  5'  10.4"  169.8  31 

28  Insurance  Presidents 5'    9.7"  175-2  25 

29  Psychologists 5'    9.7"  155.3  4" 

35  Anti-Saloon  League  Officials      .    .  5'    9.2"  176.3  24 

39  Publishers 5'     7.9"  17 1-9  26 

40  Musicians      5'    5.6"  161. 9  37 

His  figures  are  in  averages  rather  than  in  medians.  The  average 
height  of  the  ministers  in  this  study  sending  replies  is  5'  8.9",  which 
places  them  a  little  above  labor  organizers  and  a  little  below  manu- 
facturers and  lecturers,  but  quite  typically  in  the  class  of  "intellectu- 
als." The  figures  which  Gowin  quotes  for  the  average  of  all  policy 
holders  are  58.5  inches.  This  must  be  a  misprint  for  5'  8.5",  so  that 
the  group  of  ministers  would  be  less  than  a  half  inch  above  the 
average  of  their  fellows  and  practically  the  same  as  Gowin's  group 
of  preachers  in  small  towns,  5'  8.8". 

Height  Dif.  Weight  Dif. 

Bishops 5'  10.6" 

Preachers,  Small  Towns 5'    8.8"  1.8  159-4  i7-0 


University  Presidents 5'  10.8" 

Presidents,  Small  Colleges   ....    5'    9.6"  1.2  164.0  17.6 

City  School  Superintendents   ...    5'  10.4" 
Principals,  Small  Towns 5'    9.7" 

^  The  Executive  and  His  Control  of  Men. 


Dif. 

Weight 

176.4 

1.8 

159-4 

181. 6 

1.2 

164.0 

178.6 

•7 

157-6 

A  Study  of  Theological  School  Graduates  75 

The  division  between  economic  struggle  and  comfort  in  the  homes 
from  which  the  group  camie  is  almost  exactly  even  in  so  far  as  it  is 
specified.  Forty  of  the  men  experienced  both  struggle  and  comfort 
at  different  periods  in  their  early  life.  Only  two  look  back  on  a 
childhood  of  ease,  although  two  more  speak  of  having  had  conditions 
of  ease  during  part  of  their  school  days.  As  to  the  relation  of  the 
economic  to  the  social  environment,  omitting  the  mixed  cases  in 
which  an  individual  had  both  comfort  and  struggle  and  lived  in 
various  sized  communities,  50  per  cent  of  those  living  in  the  country 
specified  hardship  and  struggle  and  only  one  third  of  those  in  the 
city  so  specify.  Not  quite  half  of  those  in  the  country  look  back  to  a 
childhood  of  unmixed  comfort.  Take  it  all  in  all,  as  far  as  the  men 
who  answered  these  questions  can  be  taken  as  representative,  the 
ministers  who  graduated  from  theological  schools  during  the  decade 
under  consideration  were  of  slightly  more  than  average  physique, 
acquainted  with  the  small  town  and  country  social  life  and  con- 
ditions, schooled  in  effort,  and  more  often  than  not  in  the  actual 
struggle  with  hardship. 

TABLE  XXVII 

Early  Opportunities  Specified 

No.  Total 

Good  School  Advantages 127 

Public  schools 61 

High  schools  (including  private  schools,  3) 48 

Business  college 3 

Night  school 1 

College  (in  home  town  or  wa^'  paid)      14 

Special  Cultural  Opportunities 24 

Good  libraries  or  good  books 1 1 

Special  music  opportunities 5 

Special  art  opportunities      2 

Special  travel  opportunities 6 

Church  Advantages 25 

Nearby,  attendance,  church  work,  etc 20 

Sunday  Schools      5 

Good  Home  and  Parentage 65 

"Educated"  or  "college  trained" 4 

Parents  teachers 4 

"Culture" 4 


76  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

"Godly"  or  "spiritual"  mother      8 

"Godly"  or  "spiritual"  father 5 

"Godly"  or  "spiritual"  grandfather      I 

Good  parentage 18 

Parsonage  home 19 

Only  son i 

One  of  large  family i 

Home  Sympathy  and  Encouragement 

Social  Advantages 

Ministers  visited  home 2 

Christian  teachers 3 

Christian  associates I 

City  and  its  varied  life i 

Physical  advantages 

Country  life 13 

Ground  for  planting      i 

Outdoor  sports  and  exercises 7 

Nature  lore  and  woodcraft 6 

"Wholesome"  environment 5 

Good  health 6 

Special  training  in 

Gardening  or  farming 6 

Mechanics I 

"Self-reliance"  and  "accuracy" 3 

Business      2 

Managing  others i 

Earning 7 

"Hard  work" 10 


23 
7 


38 


30 


TABLE  XXVIII 
Early  Responsibilities  Specified 

Entire  Self-Support 

(i  at  7  years,  2  at  9,  i  at  11,  4  at  13,  4  at  15,  i  at  16,  3  at  18, 
4  not  specified) 

Partial  Self-Support      

(i  at  II,  2  at  12,  4  at  14,  i  at  15,  6  not  specified) 

Responsibility  for  Home      

Father  ill 6 

Widowed  mother 20 

(whole  or  part  responsibility  at  various  ages  from  9  years  on) 

Mother  died 5 

Caring  for  younger  members  of  family      17 

Care  of  invalid  mother 3 

Confidant  of  parents,  financial  struggle 7 

Helping  with  mortgage 3 


14 
61 


A  Study  of  Theological  School  Graduates  77 

Responsibility  for  Management      43 

Farm  (whole  7,  part  11) 18 

Stock 8 

Stock  farm      4 

Herding 4 

Store  or  grocery  clerk 7 

Crews  of  harvesters 2 

Business  and  Labor  Responsibilities      62 

Laundry,  milk  and  paper  routes 3 

Newspaper  and  printing  office 3 

Bookkeeping,  office,  banking  and  business 7 

Lumber  woods,  saw  mill I 

Machine  shop 3 

Carpenter 2 

Farm  (32)  and  Garden  (3) 35 

Poultry,  chores,  etc 8 

Responsibility  for  own  education 99 

Public  school  (whole) i 

High  school  (whole,  18,  part  5) 23 

College  (whole,  33,  part  9) 42 

Theological  school  (whole  28,  part  5) 33 

Social  responsibilities 23 

Sunday  school  teacher 4 

Sunday  school  superintendent  (age  16) i 

Local  preacher  (age  22,  16) 2 

Epworth  League  president  (i  at  18)       5 

Y.  M.  C.  A.  president 2 

High  school  class  officer 2 

Teacher   5 

College  tutor      2 

The  outlook  on  life  which  these  individuals  gained  in  their  boy- 
hood environment  is  interestingly  shown  in  their  replies  to  the 
questions  regarding  special  opportunities  and  responsibilities.  Al- 
though thirty  specified  their  opportunities  as  "none"  and  twenty- 
four  said  they  had  no  special  responsibilities  during  childhood,  the 
majority  seemed  to  have  plenty  of  both.  Tables  XXVII  and 
XXVIII  give  a  summary  of  those  which  they  most  frequently 
specified. 

A  few  quotations  make  these  summaries  even  more  vivid.  Op- 
timism is  shown  by  regarding  as  opportunities  "permission  to  work 
my  way  through  school  and  college."  "At  15,  I  was  given  the  privi- 
lege of  earning  what  I  could, — did  not  have  to  help  my  parents." 


78  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

"A  grandfather  who  knew  how  to  keep  me  at  it  from  early  till  late." 
Another  found  that  farm  work  afforded  "physical  exercise,  medita- 
tion and  thought."  One  cites  as  a  special  opportunity  "an  illness 
that  threw  my  interests  from  mechanics  (inherited),  into  the  realm 
of  religion.  I  know  of  no  ancestor  who  was  a  clergyman."  "Father 
and  mother  both  lived  until  the  family  was  grown."  "Comparatively 
perfect  use  of  all  my  faculties."  "The  opportunity  to  work  my  way 
through  preparatory  school,  college  and  seminary  with  $80  as  a 
starting  fund." 

Among  the  many  references  to  opportunities  through  the  home 
are  such  as  these:  "A  Union  Sunday  school  in  a  school  house  near 
our  home  gave  me  a  religious  inclination."  Cultural  opportunities  are 
variously  specified  such  as  "refined  and  cultured  home,"  "musical 
mother,"  "splendid  German  training,"  "serious-minded  and  in- 
dustrious parents."  "I  worked  for  a  man  who  belonged  to  a  library 
club  and  was  loaned  some  very  good  books  through  him."  "Father 
was  a  bookdealer,  so  I  had  a  wider  reading  than  the  village  afforded 
most  boys."  A  very  few  mention  financial  help  from  relatives  or 
from  church  funds.  One  says  that  his  opportunities  were  "None. 
Never  saw  a  train  till  I  was  12,  never  was  in  a  city  till  17."  But 
another  had  a  "900  mile  trip  in  a  wagon  at  eight."  A  very  few  mention 
Chautauquas,  "World's  Fairs,"  or  summer  conferences.  Some  speak 
of  later  opportunities,  such  as  high  school  debating,  Y.M.C.A. 
work,  leading  boys'  camps,  and  serving  as  assistant  to  an  unusually 
successful  pastor.    Two  had  European  travel  in  later  youth. 

Comments  on  responsibilities  indicate  that  few  had  a  care-free 
childhood.  One  took  "a  man's  place  in  the  field  from  my  13th  year." 
Another  was  "at  home  with  mother  while  father  was  hundreds  of 
miles  away  at  work, — I  was  a  little  father  to  the  family."  One  did 
not  have  a  home  after  his  fifteenth  birthday;  another  had  a  constant 
struggle  to  keep  himself  in  health.  Another  had  "hard  labor  and  no 
schooling  between  10  and  17,"  while  still  another  "left  school  at  1 1  and 
graduated  from  college  and  seminary  after  marriage."  Many  men- 
tion various  financial  responsibilities  which  seem  to  have  involved 
some  opportunity  also,  such  as  "Bought  clothes  with  pig  money," 
"Handling  all  the  farm  machinery  while  brothers  did  the  other 
parts";  "Responsibilitity  for  buying  and  feeding  stock";  "Walking 
three  miles  each  day  to  attend  a  three-year  high  school";  "Regular 
tasks  on  farm  as  rapidly  as  strength  pemiitted  but  no  personal 
compensation  till  after  21";  wood-chopping,  milking,  getting  drift 


A  Study  oj  I'heological  School  Graduates  79 

wood  from  ri\er,  factory  work,  errand  boy,  bookkeeper,  iron  molder, 
and  a  summary  given  by  one,  "All  kinds  of  ordinary  work  for  earning 
a  living."  As  Table  XXVIII  shows,  several  were  orphans  or  half- 
orphans.  One  took  care  of  both  parents  (one  for  20  years)  till  they 
died,  and  educated  himself  at  the  same  time. 

All  in  all,  the  impression  is  of  ambition,  hard  work,  moral  rugged- 
ness,  and  a  certain  tendency  of  the  environment  to  individualize, 
rather  than  socialize  the  outlook  of  the  majority.  There  was  struggle, 
sometimes  desperate  struggle,  against  poverty  and  adverse  cir- 
cumstances which  seemed  to  afifect  the  individual  or  his  immediate 
family,  giving  sympathetic  understanding  for  their  bufTeted  or 
discouraged  fellows,  but  little  background  for  cooperative  social 
endeavor. 

INDIVIDUAL  INTERESTS  AND  ABILITIES 

What  kind  of  boys  were  they?  What  did  they  like  best  to  do  and 
what  did  they  do  best?  Tables  XXIX-XXXIV  summarize  the 
TOO  complete  answers  received  to  the  questions  in  Table  I  of  the 
questionnaire.  The  ten  characteristics  in  the  table  were  chosen  for 
three  reasons.  Some  of  them,  like  study  with  books,  managing 
people,  planning  and  inventing,  and  a  certain  amount  of  clerical 
work  and  bargaining,  might  seem  to  be  desirable  or  at  least  useful 
in  certain  functions  of  the  ministry.  Others,  such  as  experimenting, 
mechanical  work,  and  observing  facts  in  nature,  would  tend  to 
show  how  wide  in  range  were  those  interests  which  might  be  taken  as 
the  basis  of  "cultural"  development.  The  interest  in  farm  work 
might  show  whether  the  boys  liked  their  environment  and  duties  or 
sought  the  profession  of  the  ministry  as  an  escape  from  work  that 
was  distasteful.  The  interest  in  athletics  and  organized  games 
might  be  expected  to  show  something  of  the  temperament  and 
disposition  of  these  individuals.  Another  reason  for  including  seven 
of  these  characteristics  is  that  they  had  already  been  made  the 
subject  of  a  study  by  Professor  Thorndike  and  would  thus  afford  a 
basis  for  comiparing  results  with  a  different  group. 

The  only  thing  which  stands  out  without  doubt  and  with  little 
change  during  the  grammar  school,  preparatory  school  and  college 
ages  is  the  fact  that  they  liked  to  study  with  books.  (See  Tables 
XXIX,  XXXI.)  The  other  activities  which  more  than  50  per  cent 
of  them  place  in  the  upper  half  of  the  scale  of  relative  interest  dur- 
ing grammar  school  days  are,  in  the  order  named,  athletics,  farm 


8o 


Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 


TABLE  XXIX 

Early  Interests 

Order  i  2  j 

Bargaining      4  2  11 

Managing  People 3  9  8 

Studying  Books 35  20  11 

Experimenting 6  9 

Planning  and  Inventing 4  9  8 

Observing  Facts  in  Nature      ...  5  8  14 

Clerical  Work 2  4  3 

Mechanical  Work      12  13  6 

Farm  Work 15  14  13 

Athletics 20  14  17 


5 

II 

ID 

II 

14 

12 

20 

9 

13 

II 

10 

15 

15 

6 

12 

4 

8 

2 

2 

I 

4 

14 

15 

II 

17 

15 

9 

4 

7 

II 

13 

16 

14 

12 

6 

16 

10 

14 

10 

10 

13 

5 

8 

7 

8 

II 

13 

16 

28 

12 

10 

8 

9 

12 

II 

7 

19 

12 

10 

5 

3 

4 

15 

8 

7 

II 

9 

2 

7 

5 

TABLE  XXX 

Early  Abilities 

Order  123 

Bargaining      4       4       7 

Managing  People 13     15 

Studying  Books 47     22       6 

Experimenting 413 

Planning  and  Inventing 3       8       6 

Observing  Facts  in  Nature      ...  6       811 

Clerical  Work 2       4       4 

Mechanical  Work 12     11      12 

Farm  Work 15     17     13 

Athletics 11      10     13 


II 

7 

9 

14 

13 

13 

18 

3 

10 

13 

10 

II 

14 

II 

9 

3 

4 

4 

2 

3 

10 

16 

9 

18 

13 

9 

8 

4 

8 

15 

6 

16 

15 

II 

8 

15 

10 

15 

12 

12 

4 

9 

10 

12 

12 

II 

13 

22 

13 

II 

6 

6 

13 

9 

10 

10 

II 

10 

5 

4 

6 

6 

15 

8 

13 

10 

5 

6 

9 

TABLE  XXXI 
Adolescent  Interests 

Order  1234 

Bargaining      7       7     12 

Managing  People 5       9     18     13 

Studying  Books 58     15       7       5 

Experimenting 2       9       5      18 

Planning  and  Inventing 2       714       8 

Observing  Facts  in  Nature      ...  3       8       917 

Clerical  Work 2       9       6       3 

Mechanical  Work      10       9       7       9 

Farm  Work 11      12     16       8 

Athletics 11     15     12       9 


5 

13 

8 

16 

II 

21 

12 

7 

9 

4 

16 

7 

3 

5 

6 

2 

14 

10 

9 

21 

8 

4 

9 

1 1 

16 

10 

II 

10 

15 

6 

19 

8 

9 

6 

7 

10 

9 

16 

13 

25 

12 

14 

6 

22 

5 

7 

13 

14 

5 

5 

5 

12 

10 

12 

13 

5 

6 

7 

A  Study  of  Theological  School  Graduates 


8i 


TABLE  XXXII 
Adolescent  Abilities 

Order  1234567 

Bargaining      3       4       8  14  6  15  12 

Managing  People 3       9     18  13  14  3  7 

Studying  Books 55     22       7  3  5  5 

Experimenting 3     12       4  10  14  7  16 

Planning  and  Inventing 3       213  6  8  14  16 

Observing  Facts  in  Nature      ...  3       9       5  16  9  14  18 

Clerical  Work 7     12  9  6  10  12 

Mechanical  Work      7       8       6  12  14  6  7 

Farm  Work 21      15     11  4  13  14  4 

Athletics 4     14     15  13  12  12  10 


15 

8 

15 

13 

15 

6 

2 

I 

18 

8 

8 

II 

14 

13 

II 

9 

6 

12 

II 

20 

13 

16 

II 

3 

4 

II 

TABLE  XXXIII 

Present  Interests 

Order  1234 

Bargaining      3     ^2       8 

Managing  People 34  35       811 

Study  with  Books 57  27       9       i 

Experimenting 2      10     12 

Planning  and  Inventing 3  3     10     10 

Observing  Facts  in  Nature      ...  2  9     19     15 

Clerical  Work 2  9       9     18 

Mechanical  Work      3       9     10 

Farm  Work i  9       6     13 

Athletics      9       6 


5 

6 

7 

H 

9 

10 

6 

10 

8 

13 

9 

30 

4 

4 

I 

3 

3 

I 

I 

7 

10 

12 

14 

19 

14 

10 

10 

10 

15 

19 

10 

13 

13 

14 

6 

8 

I 

9 

9 

ID 

13 

10 

II 

10 

13 

16 

15 

16 

8 

21 

II 

13 

19 

5 

12 

13 

19 

17 

10 

13 

13 

TABLE  XXXIV 

Present  Abilities 

Order  1234 

Bargaining       i  4      18      10 

Managing  People 30  33     10     10 

Study  with  Books 50  28       8       3 

Experimenting i  2       4       9 

Planning  and  Inventing 4  3     10     11 

Observing  Facts  in  Nature      ...  i  7     18     17 

Clerical  Work 3  11      14     11 

Mechanical  Work      2  6       8       6 

Farm  Work i  9       8     13 

Athletics 4     n 


II 

7 

9 

II 

8 

21 

7 

3 

4 

3 

17 

17 

9 

13 

15 

13 

5 

17 

14 

13 

17 

6 

12 

II 

14 

6 

8 

4 

15 

8 

1 1 

13 

10 

8 

13 

9 

19 

II 

16 

10 

14 

10 

8 

14 

10 

13 

9 

15 

13 

14 

14 

20 

82  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

work,  mechanical  work,  observing  facts  in  nature  and  managing 
people.  By  the  high  school  period  the  interest  has  shifted  somewhat 
so  that  while  athletics  and  farm  life  divide  the  place  next  to  books, 
managing  people  is  a  close  third  and  the  interest  in  mechanical 
work  and  nature  lore  is  slightly  waning.  They  do  not  seem  to  have 
been  a  particularly  experimental  or  inventive  group,  while  bargain- 
ing and  clerical  work  are  generally  in  the  lowest  places  in  their 
interest. 

Quite  evidently  that  original  trait  which  is  the  dominant  influence 
in  steering  youth  toward  the  profession  of  the  ministry  is  the  love 
of  working  with  ideas  rather  than  with  things.  As  the  individual 
matures,  his  interest  in  the  source  of  ideas  and  the  means  of  working 
out  ideas,  people,  increases  till  it  equals  and  often  surpasses  the 
interest  in  the  depositories  of  ideas,  books.  While  even  a  casual 
inspection  of  Tables  XXIX-XXXIV  shows  the  permanence  of 
the  main  interest,  the  permanence  of  other  interests  is  also  high. 
Using  columns  3  and  7  of  Table  II  of  the  questionnaire  for  ex- 
ample (interests  during  high  school  age  and  the  present) : 

Taking  the  differences  in  the  order  of  ranking,  trait  by  trait, 
and  recording  the  sum  of  those  differences  for  each  of  the  100  com- 
plete cases,  the  average  for  all  was  21.4.  If  there  had  been  no 
change  in  the  order  of  interest  in  the  two  periods  this  sum  would 
in  each  case  have  been  zero.  If  there  were  no  relation  whatever 
between  the  order  of  interests  in  the  two  periods  (i  changing  as 
frequently  with  9  or  10  as  with  2  or  remaining  at  i),  this  sum  would 
on  the  average  have  been  33.  To  find  the  actual  correlation  a  dis- 
tribution table  of  the  individual  difference  sums  was  made  out, 
showing  the  median  to  be  20.     Working  this  out  (by  the  formula 

r=  2  cos-  (i  +  R)  ) 

the  correlation  coefficient  of  interests  between  high  school  age  and 
maturity  is  found  to  be  +.61. 

What  is  the  relation  of  interest  to  ability?  Several  said  "the 
same."  In  many  cases  there  was  but  slight  difference  in  order  of 
rank,  though  some  expressed  a  high  interest  in  activities  in  which 
they  say  they  had  little  ability — such  as  athletics  or  mechanical 
work.  Conclusions  here  await  the  arithmetical  work  of  computing 
the  correlations  between  each  pair  of  columns. 

Permanence  of  ability  was  measured  in  the  same  way,  using 
columns  4  and  8  (high  school  and  present  ability)  as  representative 


A  Study  of  Theological  School  Graduates  83 

periods.  The  median  (20)  and  hence  the  correlation  +.61,  were 
the  same  as  between  interests  for  the  same  period. 

When  the  results  of  certain  studies  projected  or  now  in  process 
are  available,  it  will  be  interesting  and  significant  to  compare  the 
interests  and  abilities  at  the  different  age  periods  of  such  groups  as 
engineers,  lawyers,  physicians,  agriculturists,  teachers,  and  indus- 
trial and  commercial  leaders  with  those  of  this  group  of  ministers. 
For  further  conclusions  of  vocational  significance  it  is  necessary 
to  postpone  computations  with  the  material  now  on  hand  until 
such  parallel  data  are  accessible. 

It  is  clear  that  the  men  now  in  the  ministry  are  there  because 
of  their  original  interest  in  ideas  and  in  persons.  As  to  other  inter- 
ests, Lowell's  findings  in  his  study  of  Harvard  graduates  in  Law 
and  Medicine  seem  to  have  some  bearing.  He  found  that  there 
was  no  relation  between  interest  as  shown  by  courses  chosen  in 
college  and  ability  as  shown  by  honors  in  professional  school, 
but  a  close  relation  between  college  honors  and  honors  in  pro- 
fessional school.  Hence  original  interest  and  ability  in  dealing 
with  objective  facts  such  as  natural  sciences,  mechanics,  or  busi- 
ness relations,  should  be  no  bar  to  interest  and  success  in  the 
Christian  ministry.  The  needs  of  the  profession  would  be  more 
adequately  met  by  the  inclusion  of  men  with  such  interests,  and 
especially  of  those  with  inventive  and  experimental  tendencies 
who  should  furnish  leadership  in  finding,  under  new  conditions  of 
human  life,  new  methods  for  accomplishing  the  fundamentally 
changeless  purposes  of  the  Christian  ministry. 

It  seems  probable  that  the  trait  here  called  "executive  ability" 
is  closely  related  to  what  the  intelligence  tests  for  adults  call  "gen- 
eral ability."  The  correlations  of  the  four  abilities  with  each  other, 
with  achievement  in  the  various  items  of  work  in  the  pastorate, 
with  educational,  executive,  and  editorial  work,  and  with  grades 
in  the  theological  seminary,  point  in  this  direction.  This  is  a  trait 
the  degree  of  which  can  be  determined  early  in  an  individual's 
life. 

General  Conclusions 

It  may  therefore  be  said  that  some  qualities  associated  with 
success  in  the  Christian  ministry  include  first  of  all  a  high  general 
intelligence,  and  general  ability  to  handle  human  problems  and 
relationships,  rather  than  more  specialized  traits.    This  ability  can 


84  Success  in  ihe  Christian  Ministry 

be  determined  early  enough  in  an  individual's  school  life  to  select 
the  promising  candidates  and  present  to  them  the  possibilities  of 
the  ministry  as  a  field  of  life  work. 

Certain  intellectual  traits  correlated  with  high  examination 
grades  indicate  the  probability  that  the  individuals  possessing 
them  will  ultimately  choose  the  field  of  higher  education.  Probably 
there  is  no  better  vocational  preparation  for  a  teacher  in  the  theo- 
logical seminary  than  such  an  institution  itself.  For  other  educa- 
tional positions  and  for  social,  editorial,  and  executive  positions 
in  the  church,  some  additional  courses,  probably  in  combination 
with  other  professional  schools,  should  afford  the  necessary  com- 
bination of  religious  motive  and  outlook  and  specialized  skill. 

In  the  pastorate  itself,  in  addition  to  the  "executive"  or  general 
ability,  and  the  closely  linked  ability  to  preach  forceful  and  con- 
vincing sermons,  the  quality  most  closely  associated  with  success 
is  a  tireless  sympathy  and  a  tireless  energy  in  meeting  individual 
personal  demands  which  make  the  good  pastor.  Under  present 
conditions  these  abilities,  which  function  in  cooperative  endeavor 
and  in  the  personal  relationships  arising  from  organized  social 
life,  are  shown  by  the  preceding  study  to  be  more  closely  associated 
with  success  than  is  evangelistic  ability  in  the  sense  of  the  ability 
to  alter  the  habits  and  attitudes  of  mature  individuals  by  intellectual 
and  emotional  appeal. 


PART  III 

A   STUDY    OF    ESTIMATED    VALUES    OF    CURRICULUM 

SUBJECTS    IN    COLLEGE    AND    THEOLOGICAL 

TRAINING^ 

Introduction 

In  all  professions  the  graduates  of  certain  leading  training  schools 
have  such  a  dominant  influence  on  the  ideals  and  standards  of  their 
associates  and  of  the  public  that  they  may  be  said  to  a  large  degree 
to  be  making  the  profession.  It  is  also  true  that  all  graduates, 
by  their  reactions  and  criticisms,  are  to  a  certain  extent  making 
the  professional  schools. 

A  great  deal  has  been  written  about  the  curricula  of  professional 
schools  of  all  kinds,  and  theological  schools  have  received  their 
fair  share  of  attention.  There  is  David  Spence  Hill's  dissertation 
for  the  doctorate  at  Clark  University  in  1908,  The  Problems  and 
Education  of  the  Protestant  Ministry.  There  are  articles  such  as 
"The  Theological  Curriculum  and  a  Teaching  Ministry"  by  H.  B. 
Robinson  and  "The  Demands  of  Democracy  upon  the  Theological 
Seminary"  by  F.  A.  Starratt  (both  in  the  American  Journal  of 
Theology  for  October,  19 18),  "The  Seminary  of  Tomorrow"  by  W. 
A.  Brown  (in  the  Harvard  Theological  Review  for  April,  1919)  and 
the  two  articles  by  Orlo  J.  Price,  previously  quoted.  It  is  a  fair 
summary  of  these  and  others,  and  of  pertinent  sections  of  more 
general  discussions,  to  say  that  they  deal  with  suggested  changes 
from  the  standpoint  of  individual  judgment  and  desires.  Men  in 
the  thick  of  affairs  in  the  pastorate,  educators  alert  to  the  changing 
needs  of  the  times,  even  laymen  analyzing  their  needs  and  tastes 
which  the  ministers  fail  to  meet,  say,  "This  subject  must  be  added, 
and  this, — and  this."    Perforce  other  subjects  would  have  to  be 

'  This  section  did  not  form  part  of  the  original  dissertation.  It  deals  with  the 
material  returned  in  the  second  part  of  the  questionnaire  and  is  included  to  complete 
the  study,  and  also  because  of  the  keen  interest  in  the  topic  manifested  by  the  respon- 
dents. As  will  be  seen,  the  figures  are  complicated  with  too  many  unmeasured  variables 
to  admit  of  indubitable  conclusions,  but  the  general  trends  shown  have  value  in  clearing 
the  ground  for  further  study,  and  indicate  its  direction  by  the  questions  they  raise. 


86  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

dropped  to  make  room  for  them,  and  each  individual  is  ready  to  do 
away  with  those  which  he  did  not  like  or  has  not  used. 

In  so  far  as  this  investigator  could  ascertain  there  has  been  here- 
tofore no  attempt  to  secure  from  any  considerable  number  of  pro- 
fessional men  a  statement,  in  terms  susceptible  of  statistical  treat- 
ment, of  the  positive  and  relative  value  of  the  subjects  they  actually 
did  study.  It  would  seem  wise  to  gain  such  data  as  a  preliminary  to 
a  practical  policy  either  of  "conservatism"  of  real  fundamentals  or 
of  "radical"  omissions  of  what  may  be  proved  to  be  outworn.  As 
the  college  course  should,  ideally,  form  a  firm  foundation  for  later 
specialization,  and  its  wide  range  of  electives  makes  some  principle 
of  choice  imperative,  both  college  and  theological  curricula  were 
included  in  the  present  study. 

I.   Source  and  Extent  of  Data 

The  questionnaires  -  sent  to  all  the  available  graduates  of  the 
year  1902-1911  of  Boston  University  School  of  Theology,  Drew 
Theological  Seminary,  and  Garrett  Biblical  Institute  contained 
blank  tables  (Tables  II  and  III)  which  provided  space  for  the  numer- 
ical valuation  of  the  courses  included  in  the  curricula  of  those 
institutions  as  printed  in  their  catalogues  during  those  years,  and 
of  the  main  groups  of  courses  offered  in  standard  colleges  and 
universities  in  that  decade  and  the  few  years  preceding.  For  the 
sake  of  inclusiveness  and  simplicity  the  titles  were  generalized 
to  the  utmost.  For  instance,  "Languages,  Semitic,"  would  include 
the  entire  process  of  learning  the  grammar  and  vocabulary  of 
Aramaic  and  Arabic,  if  such  were  offered,  as  well  as  of  Hebrew; 
while  the  interpretation  as  distinct  from  the  mere  translation  of 
the  latter  would  come  under  "Exegesis,  Hebrew."  "Science,  Bio- 
logical," would  admit  the  evaluation  of  anything  from  a  general 
introductory  course  to  advanced  research  in  animal  or  plant  his- 
tology. Not  one  particular  section  or  semester  but  the  general 
trend  of  the  subject  was  considered  to  be  the  matter  of  importance. 
The  following  directions  were  given: 

Let  the  value  to  your  subsequent  life  and  activities  of  a  class-room  hour  of  a 
fundamental  English  course  be  a  unit  of  measure,  and  call  it  10.  Estimate  the 
comparative  value  (whether  "practical"  or  "inspirational")  in  your  ministerial  life 
of  each  course  taken  in  your  college  work,  by  a  number  in  the  blank  space  following 

'  See  page  41  ff.  and  insert. 


Vahies  of  Curriculum  Subjects  in  College  and  Seminary  87 

the  appropriate  heading,  thus:  if  a  class-room  hour  of  Greek  has  had  the  same 
value  as  an  hour  of  English,  mark  it  10;  if  twice  as  valuable,  20;  if  less  valuable,  9 
or  less.  If  any  course  had  no  value  to  your  life  and  work  as  a  Christian  minister, 
mark  it  zero.   Place  no  mark  after  courses  not  taken. 

In  the  same  manner,  mark  the  studies  of  your  theological  course  with  numbers 
indicating  their  value  as  compared  with  the  same  unit  "10,"  as  in  Table  II. 

In  all,  310  filled  or  partly  filled  questionnaires  were  returned.^ 
The  relative  interest  of  these  men  in  their  own  natural  endowment 
and  in  the  training  they  received  may  be  seen  by  the  fact  that 
while  only  103  sent  replies  to  Table  I  suflficiently  complete  to  be  of 
use,  305  filled  out  Table  III,  and  Table  II  was  filled  by  281.  Some 
of  these  24  men  who  did  not  fill  in  Table  II  were  diploma  graduates 
who  had  not  taken  a  full  college  course,  and  others  reported  such  a 
long  interval  between  college  and  seminary  that  their  memory 
for  the  former  was  less  keen,  or  they  omitted  it  for  lack  of 
interest. 

These  replies  cover  about  one  fourth  of  all  the  graduates  of  the 
period  considered,  and  very  nearly  one  third  of  those  living  and  in 
the  United  States  at  the  time  the  letters  were  sent.  They  are  from  a 
selected  group  in  so  far  as  willingness  to  answer  a  questionnaire  is 
a  basis  of  selection.  Otherwise  they  must  be  considered  representa- 
tive of  every  form  of  work  engaged  in  by  the  Methodist  ministers  in 
the  United  States.  New  England,  the  far  South,  the  entire  length 
of  the  Pacific  seaboard,  the  Middle  West  and  the  Middle  Atlantic 
States,  the  Rocky  Mountain  regions  and  the  New  Southwest,  are 
all  indicated  in  the  post  marks  and  letter-heads  of  the  replies.  The 
General  Minutes  show  the  writers  to  be  stationed  in  great  city 
churches,  on  the  "Main  Street"  of  towns,  in  rural  circuits,  in  churches 
of  all  nations  in  cities  east  and  west,  in  home  mission  fields,  and  in 
the  offices  of  the  great  denominational  Boards  and  publications.  A 
few  are  from  graduates  preaching  in  other  denominations.  Hence 
the  judgments  on  the  comparative  "value  in  their  life  and  work  as  a 
Christian  minister,"  of  the  various  subjects  studied  in  preparation, 
as  shown  in  Tables  XXXV  and  XXXVI,  would  seem  to  be  a  fair 
cross  section  of  the  judgments  thereon  of  Methodist  ministers 
who  entered  their  work  during  the  first  decade  of  the  twentieth 
century. 

For  comparative  study  it  was  possible  to  divide  the  data  somewhat 
according  to  the  classification  used  in  Part  II,  as  follows: 

'  See  page  73. 


15 

15 

2 

2 

22 

22 

38 

40 

88  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

College  Theological 

Subjects  Subjects 

Executives      

Editors 

Educators 

Highest  Salaried  Pastors      

{i.  e.,  in  proportion  from  each  school) 

Lowest  Salaried  Pastors 34  39 

(ditto) 

All  other  replies,  including  i  (woman)  pastor's  as- 
sistant, I  local  preacher  (business  man)  and  several 
from  other  denominations 170  187 

281  305 

2.   Analysis  of  Total  Ratings  of  Curricula 

What  did  the  figures  mean  to  those  who  did  the  rating?  The 
standard  given  them  was  chosen  because  the  equivalent  of  a  funda- 
mental college  course  in  English  analysis  and  composition  had  been 
required  of  every  one  who  entered  a  theological  school,  and  some 
use  of  it  in  professional  life  must  be  obvious.  The  number  10  fits 
naturally  into  our  decimal  habits  of  counting.  Certain  strong 
tendencies  were  observable  in  the  individual  papers.  Some  used 
the  10  as  a  central  point,  grading  an  equal  distance  either  side, 
from  o  to  20.  Others  thought  in  multiples:  one-half  as  valuable  was 
5  and  twice  as  valuable  was  20.  A  very  few  matched  digits  with 
decades  and  placed  5  and  50,  2  and  80  as  equidistant  from  the 
standard.  Within  these  schemes  of  marking  were  seen  other  per- 
sonal tendencies — ^to  conceive  of  English  as  so  fundamental  that  few 
subsequent  studies  could  equal  it  in  daily  use  and  hence  to  mark 
nearly  all  the  subjects  9  or  less;  or  to  think  of  English  as  so  elemen- 
tary that  practically  all  the  professional  subjects  were  marked 
higher.  A  few  showed  high  lights  and  bold  contrasts,  marking  the 
favored  subjects  as  600  or  looo,  and  others  as  —25  or  —100,  with 
an  explanatory  note  that  they  "had  some  value,  but  the  waste  of 
time  was  great."  Some  courageously  owned  up  that  they  got  very 
little  out  of  their  courses  and  gave  all  but  a  few  subjects  o,  i,  2  or  3. 

There  was,  on  the  whole,  a  general  tendency  to  give  the  10  to 
subjects  that  came  up  to  a  reasonable  standard  of  conscious  useful- 
ness and  hence  to  give  that  mark  to  most  of  the  subjects.  Some, 
on  the  other  hand,  carefully  balanced  between  7's  and  8's,  i8's  and 
19's,  between  6o's  and  65's.   Owing  to  space  and  type  restrictions  in 


lvalues  of  Curriculum  Subjects  in  College  and  Seminary         89 

a  page  of  this  size  these  fine  distinctions  have  been  lost  in  the 
coarser  grading  into  the  nine  groups:  zero  or  less,  1-4,  5-9,  10,  11-14, 
15-19,  20,  25-45,  50-100  or  more. 

A  very  real  difficulty  was  brought  out  by  several  who  said  they 
found  it  impossible  to  evaluate  the  subject  separated  from  the 
teacher's  personality.  For  example,  some  gave  a  very  low  mark  to 
college  Greek  and  a  very  high  one  to  seminary  Greek  and  Exegesis, 
explaining  that  the  actual  Greek  was  little  used  but  the  inspiration 
of  the  later  teacher  or  teachers  was  one  of  the  most  permanently 
"useful"  contributions  of  the  seminary  course.  So  with  other  subjects; 
while  one  with  an  apparently  unfortunate  experience  noted  beside 
certain  low  ratings,  "I  give  not  what  these  courses  ought  to  have 
been  worth  to  me,  but  what  they  actually  were  worth";  several 
commented  "Did  not  get  enough  of  this,"  indicating  interest  in  the 
subject  matter  itself. 

The  accompanying  letters  indicate  that  to  some  men  the  college 
period  and  the  seminary  period  made  a  total  contribution  to  growth 
in  which  the  various  courses  blend  indistinguishably.  "Atmosphere, 
association,  outlook, — these  seem  more  significant  to  me  than 
particular  subjects  studied"  is  the  way  one  sums  it  up.  Some  who 
replied  cordially  stated  that  they  were  unable  after  the  lapse  of 
years  to  give  any  numerical  ratings.  One  made  his  scale  as  follows: 
"The  value  of  these  years  to  my  present  success  is  in  about  this 
proportion:  Three-fifths  to  my  associations  in  affairs  (athletic, 
social  and  executive  relations  with  students,  and  earning  way 
through) ;  one-fifth  to  the  strong  personalities  of  half  a  dozen  men 
apart  from  what  they  taught;   one-fifth  to  the  subjects  taught." 

One  comment  is  full  of  insight.  "I  believe  that  certain  training 
which  might  result  in  very  high  efficiency,  if  followed  up  after 
graduation,  proves  of  very  little  value  because  the  minister  lets 
his  study  of  the  subject  cease  as  soon  as  examinations  are  past. — 
Yesterday  a  city  preacher  who  is  not  'making  good,'  seeing  in  my 
hand  a  pocket  Greek  text — which  I  always  carry  with  me,  said: 
'Have  you  kept  up  your  Greek?  I  never  could  retain  my  interest  in 
it.'  He  has  depended  on  a  good  presence  and  a  genial  disposition  to 
get  somewhere  and  he  has  gone  as  far  as  he  ever  will,  though  he  is 
comparatively  young." 

Yet  with  the  inevitable  differences  in  personal  outlook  and  ex- 
perience, in  standards  and  proportions  in  rating,  the  massed  judg- 
ments of  three  hundred  men  do  show  significant  trends.    One  is  the 


90 


Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 


TABLE  XXXV 


281  Theological  School  Graduates'  Estimate  of  the  Value  of  Subjects  in 
Their  College  Curricula 


0 

I 

5 

II 

15 

25 

50 

No 

Less 

More 

or 

to 

to 

10 

to 

to 

20 

to 

to 

Mark 

Than 

Than 

— 

4 

9 

— 

14 

19 

40 

100 

Eng. 

Eng. 

English 

Analysis  and  Compo- 

position    .... 

281 

Literature    .... 

0 

I 

25 

106 

ID 

24 

61 

10 

2 

42 

26 

107 

Languages 

Latin 

4 

26 

132 

82 

4 

5 

13 

4 

I 

ID 

162 

27 

Greek 

4 

23 

96 

66 

9 

24 

26 

13 

3 

17 

123 

75 

F"rench 

9 

44 

53 

14 

I 

2 

0 

0 

0 

158 

106 

3 

German 

II 

45 

107 

20 

2 

4 

5 

2 

I 

84 

163 

14 

Spanish  or  Italian  . 

8 

ID 

3 

2 

0 

I 

0 

I 

0 

256 

21 

2 

History 

Ancient 

I 

9 

90 

84 

II 

25 

31 

5 

I 

24 

100 

73 

General 

I 

6 

84 

83 

12 

26 

34 

10 

2 

23 

91 

84 

European    .... 

I 

13 

78 

78 

II 

22 

30 

8 

3 

37 

92 

152 

American     .... 

0 

3 

69 

88 

12 

28 

39 

15 

4 

23 

72 

98 

Mathematics 

Pure 

18 

33 

114 

66 

5 

12 

8 

5 

I 

19 

165 

31 

Applied 

15 

24 

76 

29 

3 

6 

6 

4 

2 

116 

"5 

21 

Science 

Biological    .... 

I 

19 

77 

41 

8 

15 

16 

4 

4 

96 

99 

47 

Physical 

2 

25 

86 

49 

8 

17 

13 

5 

3 

73 

113 

56 

Chemistry  .... 

8 

33 

104 

45 

5 

8 

5 

2 

3 

68 

145 

23 

Geology 

4 

19 

81 

57 

8 

8 

14 

5 

I 

84 

104 

36 

Astronomy      .    .    . 

4 

10 

72 

38 

10 

ID 

II 

4 

4 

118 

86 

39 

Philosophy 

Introduction,    His- 

tory       

3 

13 

60 

65 

5 

12 

26 

ID 

4 

83 

76 

67 

Logic 

I 

16 

84 

88 

10 

19 

25 

4 

8 

26 

lOI 

66 

Ethics      

0 

7 

60 

78 

14 

23 

49 

II 

8 

31 

67 

95 

Psychology 

Descriptive     .    .    . 

3 

13 

76 

73 

12 

24 

24 

7 

4 

45 

92 

71 

Experimental      .    . 

2 

6 

42 

32 

6 

17 

II 

6 

5 

154 

50 

45 

Educational    .    .    . 

3 

4 

43 

41 

7 

20 

20 

7 

2 

134 

50 

56 

Values  of  Curriculum  Subjects  in  College  and  Seminary        91 


TABLE  XXXW— Continued 

281  Theological  School  Graduates'  Estimate  of  the  Value  of  Subjects 
IN  Their  College  Curricula 


0 

I 

5 

11 

15 

25 

50 

iVo 

Less 

More 

or 

to 

to 

10 

to 

to 

20 

to 

to 

Mark 

Than 

Than 



4 

9 

14 

19 



40 

100 

Eng. 

Eng. 

Social  Sciences 

Economics  .... 

2 

12 

87 

54 

16 

13 

18 

6 

4 

69 

lOI 

57 

Social  Theory     .    . 

I 

6 

43 

39 

II 

16 

II 

I 

2 

151 

50 

41 

Descriptive  Sociol- 

ogy   

2 

4 

50 

41 

10 

19 

17 

2 

2 

129 

56 

55 

Practical  Sociology 

I 

5 

50 

44 

7 

29 

24 

9 

7 

105 

56 

76 

Voice  and  Ear 

Music  and  Singing 

4 

8 

48 

62 

8 

16 

16 

9 

2 

108 

60 

51 

Elocution,  Oratory 

4 

10 

51 

81 

15 

23 

44 

15 

6 

32 

65 

103 

Speaking  and  Debate 

5 

6 

34 

64 

16 

29 

56 

20 

6 

45 

45 

127 

relative  proportion  for  which  "no  mark"  was  given.  This  generally, 
although  not  always,  indicates  that  in  college  the  subject  was  not 
elected  and  in  seminary  not  offered.  Table  XXXV  reflects  the 
accepted  "classical  course"  which  was  the  almost  inevitable  prep- 
aration for  theological  training.  Almost  everyone  took  Latin, 
Greek,  and  pure  mathematics.  For  the  elective  "one  modern 
language"  few  chose  French  and  fewer  still  could  have  found  Spanish 
or  Italian  in  the  colleges  of  that  period.  Biology  and  geology  were 
less  often  elected  than  the  more  familiar  (and  perhaps  theologically 
safer)  physics  and  chemistry.  Astronomy  and  applied  mathematics 
were  still  more  infrequent  electives.  At  that  period  psychology  and 
the  social  sciences  were  newer  and  less  developed  and  music  and 
singing  were  rather  looked  upon  as  "extras"  than  as  legitimate 
credits  toward  a  degree. 

Table  XXXVI  shows  the  fact,  confirmed  by  the  catalogues, 
that  it  was  only  in  the  latter  part  of  the  decade  studied  that  courses 
in  religious  education,  psychology,  social  sciences,  and  the  lan- 
guages, religions  and  psychology  of  missions  fields  were  offered  in  the 
theological  schools.  The  other  theological  subjects  with  a  large 
proportion  of  "no  mark"  were  music  and  singing,  public  speaking  and 
debate,  "praxis"  (sermons  before  classmates  and  professors).  Biblical 


92 


Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 


TABLE  XXXVI 

305  Theological  School  Graduates'  Estimate  of  the  Value 
OF  Subjects  in  Their  Theological  Curricula 


0 

I 

5 

II 

15 

25 

50 

No 

Less 

More 

or 

to 

to 

10 

to 

to 

20 

to 

to 

Mark 

Than 

Than 



4 

9 

— 

14 

19 

— 

45 

100 

Eng. 

Eng. 

English 

Composition,     Ser- 

mons     

8 

7 

37 

112 

II 

25 

50 

9 

3 

43 

52 

98 

Literature   .... 

I 

2 

26 

85 

5 

15 

35 

8 

5 

123 

29 

68 

Languages 

Semitic 

5 

25 

84 

37 

5 

12 

15 

I 

2 

119 

114 

35 

Greek 

5 

17 

86 

65 

8 

29 

39 

8 

3 

45 

108 

87 

Oriental  (and  Phon- 

ics)    

3 

4 

3 

5 

0 

0 

0 

2 

0 

288 

10 

2 

History 

Church   and    Insti- 

tutions    .... 

0 

7 

73 

84 

20 

38 

36 

II 

5 

31 

80 

no 

Geography,    Ar- 

chaeology   .    .    . 

I 

12 

76 

45 

4 

19 

15 

5 

3 

125 

89 

51 

Missions,  Evangel- 

ism   

0 

8 

60 

60 

12 

21 

34 

7 

5 

98 

68 

79 

Exegesis 

Hebrew 

4 

30 

80 

54 

II 

20 

34 

8 

4 

60 

114 

77 

Greek 

2 

14 

76 

59 

II 

35 

49 

18 

6 

35 

92 

119 

English 

I 

7 

36 

73 

10 

30 

59 

16 

7 

66 

44 

122 

Doctrine 

History  and  Devel- 

opment   .... 

0 

9 

68 

64 

14 

22 

24 

13 

5 

86 

77 

78 

Systematic  Theology 

2 

10 

52 

78 

19 

40 

60 

33 

7 

4 

67 

159 

Apologetics     .    .    . 

2 

13 

72 

71 

15 

27 

41 

3 

4 

57 

87 

90 

Practical  Theology 

Denominational 

Polity    and    Ad- 

ministration   .    . 

6 

17 

82 

65 

10 

18 

20 

7 

3 

77 

165 

58 

Parish     and     Pas- 

toral Problems   . 

3 

16 

74 

65 

20 

24 

35 

10 

6 

52 

93 

95 

Homiletics  .... 

2 

14 

17 

82 

19 

34 

45 

16 

5 

18 

86 

119 

Praxis      

8 

12 

33 

24 

4 

12 

16 

I 

I 

194 

53 

34 

Comparative    Reli- 

gions 

History  and  Philos- 

ophy of    ...    . 

0 

10 

63 

65 

10 

35 

24 

8 

5 

85 

73 

82 

Values  of  Curriculum  Subjects  in  College  and  Seminary        93 


TABLE  XXXWl— Continued 

305  Theological  School  Graduates'  Estimate  of  the  Value 
OF  Subjects  in  Their  Theological  Curricula 


0 

/ 

5 

II 

15 

25 

50 

No 
Mark 

Less 

More 

or 

I 

to 

4 

5 

to 
9 

39 

10 
39 

to 

14 
I 

to 
19 

5 

20 
21 

to 
45 

II 

to 
100 

Than 
Eng. 

Than 
Eng. 

Psychology  of     .    . 

5 

178 

45 

43 

Relation    to     Mis- 

sions      

0 

5 

41 

40 

6 

18 

18 

4 

4 

169 

46 

50 

Social  Science 

Social  Theory     .    . 

0 

7 

51 

46 

II 

17 

13 

9 

3 

148 

58 

53 

Problems  and  Lab- 

oratory   .... 

I 

6 

24 

35 

f 

21 

15 

9 

4 

184 

31 

55 

Religious  Education 

Educational  Theory 

0 

6 

27 

29 

2 

9 

10 

7 

4 

211 

33 

32 

Educational  Mate- 

rial     

0 

4 

22 

17 

2 

4 

7 

6 

3 

240 

26 

22 

Problems  and  Lab- 

oratory   .... 

I 

2 

9 

13 

3 

8 

10 

4 

3 

252 

12 

28 

Voice  and  Ear 

Music,  Singing   .    . 

5 

16 

53 

78 

5 

19 

17 

8 

3 

lOI 

74 

52 

Elocution,  Oratory 

5 

17 

51 

85 

II 

32 

44 

17 

4 

39 

73 

108 

Speaking  and  Debate 

5 

7 

30 

50 

6 

22, 

32 

13 

4 

135 

42 

78 

geography  and  archaeology,  Semitic  languages,  and  the  history  of 
missions.  Most  of  these  were  either  not  given  in  one  or  more  of  these 
schools  or  were  extra  electives. 

Next  in  impressiveness  is  the  group  of  subjects  most  closely 
"equal  to  English"  in  valuation.  On  the  whole  the  mark  10  may  be 
taken  as  a  sort  of  "O.K."  of  acceptability  as  a  fundamental  in  the 
curriculum.  Those  thus  accepted  by  any  considerable  proportion 
of  the  men  (although  in  several  cases  still  larger  groups  differed 
with  them)  are,  in  the  college,  English  literature,  Latin,  history, 
philosophy,  oratory  and  speaking;  and  in  the  seminary,  sermon 
writing,  homiletics,  oratory  and  music,  church  and  missionary 
history,  the  doctrinal  studies  and  English  exegesis. 

Very  interesting  are  those  rated  "of  less  value"  than  English 
by  more  than  considered  them  "of  greater  value"  (omitting  the 


94  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

lo's  or  "equal  value"  in  this  comparison).  In  college  all  the  lan- 
guages, mathematics  and  sciences,  political  economy  and  logic, 
seem  thus  rather  overwhelmingly  in  disfavor,  with  the  scale  tipped 
on  the  negative  side  also  in  social  theory,  ancient  and  general  his- 
tory and  history  of  philosophy.  Individual  comments  may  or  may 
not  explain  these  tendencies.  "I  never  had  enough  (of  Gernian) 
to  become  proficient."  "I  could  have  become  greatly  interested  in 
mathematics  had  I  elected  a  career  that  required  the  practical 
use  of  mathematics."  "The  natural  sciences  interested  me  but  I 
labored  under  the  idea  that  the  ministry  required  'classical  prepar- 
ation.'" "Elementary  economics  interested  me  greatly  in  my  junior 
year  in  college.  I  therefore  elected  largely  in  economics  and  soci- 
ology during  my  senior  year,  only  to  be  disappointed.  Both  books 
and  teacher  in  this  department  were  too  abstract  and  too  remote 
from  the  world  of  real  men  and  women  to  be  of  any  great  value." 
In  theological  courses  also  the  languages  appear  to  be  in  general 
disfavor,  shared  by  Hebrew  exegesis,  and  the  apparently  "practical" 
subject  of  denominational  polity  and  administration. 

Those  declared  by  one  or  more  to  be  of  "no  value"  or  a  "waste 
of  time"  include  all  the  college  subjects  except  English  literature, 
American  history,  and  ethics,  with  especial  emphasis  against 
mathematics,  modern  languages  and  chemistry.  In  the  seminary 
all  that  escaped  the  complete  condemnation  of  one  or  more  were 
the  history  of  church  missions  and  of  doctrine,  the  history  of 
philosophy,  and  educational  theory  and  material.  Those  in  greatest 
disfavor  as  "sheer  waste"  were  praxis,  denominational  polity,  the 
ancient  languages  and  the  work  in  music,  oratory  and  public 
speaking  (which  also  were  given  some  of  the  highest  valuations) 

3.   Analysis  of  Comparative  Ratings  by  Groups 

The  best  available  way  to  compare  the  ratings  as  a  whole  with 
the  ratings  in  each  subject  of  the  various  groups,  is  by  the  use  of 
medians.  (That  is,  in  each  case  the  middle  mark  is  chosen.  For 
example,  if  183  men  marked  systematic  theology,  the  92nd  rating 
would  have  91  below  and  91  above.  If  only  86  men  marked  music, 
the  rating  would  be  midway  between  the  42nd  and  43rd  marks.) 
As  the  totals  show,  the  range  is  so  wide  and  the  number  of  id's 
so  great  that  most  of  the  medians  occur  in  the  id's,  making  the 
differences  show  only  by  decimals. 


]'alues  of  Curriculum  Subjects  in  College  and  Seminary        95 

Answers  to  all  the  tables  have  been  received  from  2  editors, 
15  executives  and  22  educators.  The  men  from  each  theological 
school  receiving  the  lowest  and  highest  salaries  of  those  sending 
replies  total  40  in  the  two  groups.  Thirty-eight  high-salaried  and 
34  low-salaried  pastors  filled  out  the  tables  regarding  the  college 
subjects,  while  39  high-salaried  and  all  40  of  the  low-salaried  pastors 
gave  ratings  on  the  theological  subjects.  Of  the  remainder  of  the 
replies,  170  marked  the  college  subjects  and  187  the  theological 
subjects.  The  median  ratings  of  each  of  these  groups  are  show^n  in 
Tables  XXXVII  and  XXXVIII.  Some  apparent  discrepancies 
between  the  medians  for  the  individual  subjects  and  those  (at  the 
left  of  each  column)  for  the  larger  groups,  such  as  languages, 
sciences,  exegesis,  etc.,  are  due  to  the  small  number  of  marks  on 
some  of  the  subjects.  For  instance,  if  but  three  marked  Spanish 
or  Italian,  the  median  might  be  30;  whereas  the  number  in  that 
group  marking  Latin  might  be  22.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that 
these  marks  are  not  averages. 

As  is  to  be  expected,  the  marks  do  not  differ  widely  between  the 
groups.  It  is,  however,  distinctly  noticeable  that  the  educators 
and  high-salaried  pulpit  men  mark  English  literature  higher  than 
do  the  other  groups.  The  educators  also  marked  the  sciences  in 
general,  especially  the  biological  sciences,  higher  than  did  the  rest, 
although  the  editors  and  executives  placed  these  studies  almost 
as  high  as  English.  All  placed  the  languages  low,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Greek;  the  executives  are  those  who  mark  the  languages 
lowest  of  all.  Mathematics  also  are  marked  low  by  all  groups.  In 
general,  they  are  marked  highest  by  the  lowest  salaried  group. 
The  executives  are  the  only  ones  who  rate  applied  mathematics 
higher  than  pure  mathematics.  Most  of  the  college  graduates 
of  that  period  were  told  that  mathematics  was  essential  to  the 
curriculum  because  "it  developed  the  logical  faculties"  and  most 
of  them  believed  it!  Since  the  theory  of  "transfer  of  training" 
that  this  implied  has  failed  to  prove  itself  under  the  experimental 
searchlight,  there  seems  to  be  a  strong  tendency,  by  those  who 
disliked  the  subject,  to  discredit  it  altogether.  The  various  branches 
of  psychology  were  marked  slightly  higher  by  educators  than  by 
others,  with  the  exception  of  experimental  psychology,  which  is 
greatly  favored  by  executives.  The  comparative  attitudes  toward 
the  social  sciences  are  interesting.  The  educators  and  the 
average  pastors   tend   to   rate   these  subjects  about  alike   (10,6), 


96 


Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 


TABLE  XXXVII 
Comparison  of  Median  Ratings  of  College  Subjects 


English 
Literature 

Languages     

Latin 

Greek 

French     

German 

Spanish  or  Italian 

History      

Ancient 

General 

European 

American 

Mathematics    .... 

Pure 

Applied    .    .  .    . 

Science  .    . 

Biological    ,    .        .    . 

Physical 

Chemistry 

Geology 

Astronomy      .... 

Philosophy 

Introduction,  History 

Logic 

Ethics      

Psychology  

Descriptive  .... 
Experimental  .  .  . 
Educational    .... 

Social  Sciences   .    .    . 

Economics 

Social  Theory  .  .  . 
Descriptive  Sociology 
Practical  Sociology    . 


2  Editors 
and  75 
Execu- 
tives 


7.90 


8.00 
8.50 
5.00 
7.70 
1. 00 


10.60 


10.40 
10.60 
10.80 
10.80 


8.30 


9.80 


10.60 


5-50 
8.50 

9-50 
10.30 

9-50 
9-50 
9-50 

10.60 
10.00 
11.00 

) 

9-50 
12.50 

9-50 

12.00 

9.00 

10.00 

15-50 


22  Edu- 
cators 


8.95 


8.40 


10.70 


10.70 


10.60 


15-50 

8.50 
9-50 
7-50 
8.50 
3.00 

10.20 

9-50 

10.20 

10.40 

8.40 
8.50 

) 

12.50 
10.30 
18.80 
10.50 
10.30 

» 

10.80 
10.50 
10.90 

10.80 
10.70 
10.50 
) 

10.20 
17.00 
10.50 
13-50 


3S  Highest 
Salaried 
Pastors 


8.40 


10.70 


7-50 


8.70 


10.40 


10.40 


10.46 


13-50 

9-30 
10.40 
5-90 
5.60 
2.00 

10.80 
10.70 
10.70 
12.00 

9.00 
5-70 

8.60 
10.20 

6.50 
10.20 
10.30 

9.60 
10.20 
10.80 

10.30 
10.70 
10.90 

9.70 
10.20 
10.40 
11.00 


J  4    Lowest 
Salaried 
Pastors 


8-35 


10.54 


8-45 


8.75 


10.45 


10.70 

8.00 
10.50 
5-50 
5-90 
8.00 

10.50 
10.70 
10.70 
10.70 

9.00 
7.00 

9.00 
8.00 
7.00 
9-50 
8.50 

) 
9-50 
10.30 
10.30 

i 

10.50 
10.40 
10.70 

) 

10.20 
9.00 
9.00 

10.50 


I/O 

Other 
Gradu- 
ates 


8.16 


10.50 


8.03 


8.80 


10.50 


10.40 


10.60 


10-95 

9-13 
10.15 
5.18 
5-70 
1.90 

10.27 
10.40 
10.32 
10.60 

8.30 
7.90 

9.80 
8.90 

7.86 
9.20 
9-55 

10.38 
10.34 
10.78 
) 

10.36 
10.40 
10.52 

) 

10.09 
10.40 
10.60 
10.65 


Values  of  Curriculum  Subjects  in  College  and  Seminary         97 


TABLE  XXXWU— Continued 
Comparison  of  Median  Ratings  of  College  Subjects 


Voice  and  Ear  .  .  . 
Music  and  Singing  . 
(Speaking   subjects 

only) 

Elocution,  Oratory 
Speaking  and   Debate 


2  Editors 
and  15 

Execu- 
tives 

22  Edu- 
cators 

38  Highest 
Salaried 
Pastors 

J4    Loicest 
Salaried 
Pastors 

10.30 

10.70 

10.66 

10.35 

10.70 

10.70 

12.50 

10.80 

10.50 

10.50 

10.80 

10.80 

10.70 

10.50 

15.20 

12.50 

I  JO 

other 
Gradu- 
ates 


10.40 


10.90 


10.77 
15.00 


while  the  median  of  the  executives  for  the  whole  group  is  1 1 ,  and 
for  the  low-salaried  pastors  barely  10. 

There  is  a  wider  divergence  regarding  the  voice  and  ear  groups 
than  in  the  others.  These  all  receive  more  than  their  share  of  zeros, 
have  as  many  id's  as  most  of  the  other  subjects  and  receive  many 
of  the  highest  ratings.  Some  individuals  indicated  that  the  work 
was  taken  in  college  during  the  theological  course,  others  that  special 
training  in  outside  schools  of  oratory  had  been  taken.  The  high- 
salaried  pastors  seemed  to  have  made  the  most  of  this  in  their  col- 
lege course,  and  the  executives  during  theological  school.  Perhaps 
this  indicates  a  selective  trend. 

Systematic  theology  and  ethics  have  high  ratings.  These  are 
apparently  of  nearly  equal  value  to  all  groups  except  that  the 
executives  place  ethics  higher  and  systematic  theology  lower  than 
any  of  the  other  groups.  Systematic  theology  seems  to  win  its 
highest  regard  from  the  educators  and  from  the  low-salaried  pas- 
tors. 

The  numerous  comments  from  the  earlier  graduates  expressing 
regret  that  psychology,  religious  education,  and  social  science 
were  not  available  in  their  day,  and  conviction  that  they  would 
have  been  "immensely  valuable,"  are  in  strange  contrast  to  the 
many  low  ratings  and  even  zeros  given  by  those  who  did  take  them. 
Perhaps  these  differences  are  quite  explicable  when  one  reads  the 
earlier  textbooks  and  realizes  that  in  the  days  first  following  their 
introduction  the  methods  were  almost  invariably  abstract  rather 
than  experimental. 


98 


Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 


TABLE  XXXVIII 
Comparison  of  Median  Ratings  of  Theological  School  Subjects 


English      

Composition,  Sermons 
Literature 

Languages    

Semitic 

Greek 

Oriental  and  Phonics 

History      

Churcii  and  Institu- 
tions      

Geography,  Archae- 
ology     

Missions,  Evangelism 

Exegesis 

Hebrew 

Greek 

English 

Doctrine 

History  and  Develop- 
ment      

Systematic   Theology 
Apologetics     .... 

Practical  Theology  . 

Denominational  Pol- 
ity and  Adminis- 
tration      

Parish  and  Pastoral 
Problems     .... 

Homiletics 

Praxis       

Comparative  Religions 
History    and    Philos- 
ophy of 

Psychology  of     .    .    . 
Relation  to   Missions 


2  Editors 
and  15 
Execu- 
tives 


10.70 


10.60 
10.90 

) 
950 
10.60 
8.00 


9.90 


9.40 


9.50 

9-50 
13.00 

9-50 
9.40 
9-50 


930 


9.40 
9.40 
9-50 


7-50 


7-50 

9.70 

10.80 

7-50 


22  Edu- 
cators 


jp  Highest 
Salaried 
Pastors 


10.50 


10.50 


10.30 
17-50 

8.80 

12.00 

5.00 


10.60 


14.00 

10.20 
10.30 


12.50 


12.50 
15.40 
10.80 


10.80 


10.70 
1540 
10.80 


9.80 


10.90 


10.90 
10.70 
12.50 


10.30 

10.10 

8.50 


10.82 


8.70 


10.80 
12.50 

7.00 
10.40 


10.60 


10.80 

5.80 
10.20 


10.67 


10.40 
10.80 
10.90 


10.50 
12.50 
10.30 


40    Loivest 
Salaried 
Pastors 


10.70 


8.90 


10.80 
10.70 

8.90 
10.20 
10.00 


10.40 


10.60 


10.50 

9.70 
10.70 

8.70 
10.40 
12.00 


10.80 


189 
Other 
Gradu- 
ates 


10.30 


9.80 


10.77 
10.70 

8.10 

10.32 

4.00 


10.50 


10.61 


10.16 
10.61 


10.70 


10.01 
10.74 
13-50 


10.60 


10.30 


15.40 


13.00 
20.50 
12.50 


10.30 

10.20 

10.80 

8.50 


10.50 


10.55 
10.40 
10.60 


10.30 
15-50 
10.70 


10.60 


10.20 

10.70 

10.90 

8.50 


10.50 


10.40 
10.50 
10.90 


10.45 
12.33 
10.58 


10.50 


10.73 
10.80 
10.46 


10.40 


10.43 
10.42 
10.46 


Values  of  Curriculum  Subjecls  in  College  and  Seminary        qq 


TABLE  XXXVIU— Continued 
Comparison  of  Median  Ratings  of  Theological  School  Subjects 


Social  Science     .    .    . 
Social  Theory     .    .    . 
Problems  and  Labora- 
tory       

Religious  Education  . 
Educational  Theory  . 
Educational  Material 
Problems  and  Labora- 
tory       

Music  and  Singing 

Voice  and  Ear  .  .  . 
Elocution,  Oratory  . 
Speaking  and  Debate 


2  Editors 
and  15 
Execu- 
tives 

22  Edu- 
cators 

jp  Highest 
Salaried 
Pastors 

40   Lowest 
Salaried 
Pastors 

13-50 

12.50 

10.60 

10.30 

10.90 

11.00 

10.60 

9.00 

17-50 

15.00 

10.60 

10.50 

15.00 

17-50 

10.40 

10.90 

15.00 

10.90 

10.40 

10.60 

10.60 

30.00 

9.00 

10.80 

25.00 

20.00 

15.60 

12.00 

10.70 

11.00 

10.70 

8.70 

12.00 

10.60 

10.60 

10.70 

10.80 

10.60 

10.60 

10.70 

15.00 

10.60 

10.50 

10.90 

189 

Other 
Gradu- 
ates 


10.60 


10.30 


10.40 

10.89 

) 

10.28 
10.23 

10.71 


10.36 

10.80 
10.80 
10.91 


4.   Summary  and  Conclusions 

The  opinions  of  this  body  of  men,  based  on  their  experiences 
in  various  fields  of  the  Christian  ministry  for  the  last  one  or  two 
decades,  are  interesting  and  significant,  but  not  conclusive.  The 
ratings  raise  as  many  questions  as  they  answer. 

History,  literature,  systematic  theology  and  ethics  seem  to 
prove  their  right  to  a  fundamental  place  in  college  and  theological 
curricula.  The  answers  indicate  a  definite  desire  that  these  shall 
be  extended  and  vitalized.  Many  of  the  letters  and  comments 
indicate  a  conviction  that  much  can  be  sacrificed  if  vital  contact 
with  the  real  problems  of  the  ministry  is  established  during  student 
days  so  that  the  problems  may  be  solved  with  the  help  of  strong 
and  stimulating  personalities  in  the  faculty.  Knowledge  of  people 
and  of  life  as  well  as  of  subjects  and  theories  is  one  of  the  insistent 
demands  volunteered  in  the  replies  to  the  questionnaires. 

Perhaps  physics  and  chemistry  do  have  less  to  do  with  people 
than  with  the  commercial  and  industrial  professions,  but  geology 


100  Success  in  the  Christian  Ministry 

and  astronomy  lie  at  the  base  of  our  whole  view  of  the  universe 
in  which  we  live.  They  have  been  used  by  some  preachers  to  give 
to  common  people,  overwhelmed  with  pettinesses  and  with  the 
pressure  of  crowded  days,  the  stimulus  of  infinity  and  the  "sweep 
of  cosmic  processes."  Spiritual  life  is  certainly  life,  and  its  laws  of 
growth  are  bound  up  with  all  that  biology  has  discovered.  Also, 
community  health,  freedom  from  social  diseases,  education  in 
effective  use  of  the  body  for  spiritual  ends  and  "fullness  of  life" 
are  all  dependent  on  this  fundamental  science.  What  is  the  reason 
that  so  many  ministers  find  it  of  no  "practical"  use? 

When  all  the  nations  are  with  us,  why  are  the  modern  languages 
placed  so  low  by  every  group?  The  men  who  answered  quite  evi- 
dently have  not  to  any  great  extent  used  what  instruction  they 
have  received.  Most  of  them  have  been  continuously  in  pastorates 
among  wholly  English  speaking  people.  But  if  the  instruction  had 
been  accompanied  by  everyday  use  in  speech  instead  of  being 
used  solely  in  reading  a  certain  amount  of  modern  classics,  would 
they  have  found  opportunity  to  use  these  modern  languages  in 
the  communities  they  served?  The  background  of  the  peoples  who 
are  with  us  or  to  whom  our  daily  relations  extend  in  other  countries 
is  essential  to  ministers  of  to-day  far  more  than  to  those  of  ten  years 
ago.  This  should  be  gained  from  the  history  of  missions  and  of 
modern  Europe  and  from  the  study  of  the  religions  and  philosophies 
alien  to  us. 

Is  religious  education  to  be  a  distinct  field,  a  profession  allied 
to  but  separated  from  the  ministry?  Should  not  the  science  of  teach- 
ing be  essential  to  the  preacher  in  preparing  his  sermons?  Should 
not  a  pastor  know  the  psychological  laws  of  comforting  and  en- 
couraging, and  the  instinctive  reactions  which  he  must  stimulate 
in  those  who  are  threatened  with  moral  collapse? 

One  thing  seems  to  stand  out  beyond  all  others:  the  value  of 
a  subject  depends  directly  on  the  way  that  it  is  taught,  and  the 
recognized  values  are  in  that  teaching  which  stimulates  the  student 
to  face  his  own  problems  in  the  practical  work  of  the  ministry  and 
develops  in  him  the  ability  to  do  his  own  thinking  in  the  principles 
underlying  his  whole  choice  and  method  of  work.  It  would  take 
the  reproduction  of  all  the  individual  replies  to  show,  what  is  lost 
in  the  summaries  and  averages  and  medians  of  the  tabulated  figures, 
the  influence  of  personality  and  method  on  the  value  to  any  in- 
dividual of  any  subject  matter.    There  is  a  difference  in  the  value 


Values  of  Curriculum  Subjects  in  College  and  Seminary       loi 

of  the  subjects  themselves,  but  there  is  a  greater  difference  in  the 
chance  to  get  the  values  they  have. 

Different  personalities  desire  and  require  a  wide  range  of  elec- 
tives,  and  there  is  evident  a  distinct  tendency  among  theological 
schools,  in  the  years  since  those  included  in  this  study,  more  widely 
to  extend  that  range.  Some  are  even  omitting  the  requirements 
for  the  ancient  languages.  The  opinions  here  tabulated  indicate 
that  further  changes  along  these  lines  and  still  wider  inclusions  of 
any  subjects  which  may  have  bearing  on  individual  and  community 
life  will  be  valuable  in  the  training  of  the  Christian  minister. 

One  of  the  chief  conclusions  established  by  the  earlier  portions 
of  this  study  is  that  success  in  the  ministry  depends  more  on  gen- 
eral ability  to  work  with  both  people  and  ideas  than  upon  any 
specific  intellectual  interest  or  group  of  interests.  Men  with  the 
experimenting,  inventing,  and  executive  types  of  mind  are  as  much 
needed  as  the  "book-minded."  It  is  the  latter  who  now  get  the  high- 
est grades,  and  are  the  most  appreciative  of  the  present  curricula. 
(Compare  the  ratings  given  by  the  educators  in  Tables  XXXVII 
and  XXXVIII  with  their  grades  in  Tables  XIII-XVI.)  What 
kind  of  curricula  would  attract  and  prepare  for  success  the  types 
of  able  men  who  have  seldom  entered  this  field? 


1 

Date  Due                          ! 

JjJ;,^iy 

INlilt' 

1 

tfW*'^^ 

1^5 

JiiiMisifi^ 

? 

'jdVMRfienm 

Mf 

-«« 

-., I— 

N* 

4gjS^ 

|P* 

f) 

Princeton    Theological   Summary  Spi'fr   l,br? 


1    1012  01028  2343 


